Final Fantasy X: a novelisation
by Kazlan
Summary: A novelisation of a beloved Final Fantasy title. Tidus, an up-and-coming Blitzball champion, is zapped from his home by a destructive force to a world one thousand years in the future. He travels Spira with a young summoner and her guardians, making allies and enemies alike, but the foremost question in his mind: will he ever find his way back home?
1. Prologue

AN: I wasn't sure whether to write the story in first or third person, considering Tidus has a narration throughout the game. I'm much more confident writing in third person, but I figured I should be true to the game with his narrations, so for the time being I'll be writing this story in third person, but separating the narrations so that I can write them in first person. This may not work, but I'm giving it a try. I hope you enjoy the prologue.

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**Final Fantasy X  
a novelisation**

**Prologue**

_No one spoke. No one even knew what to say. The crackle of the campfire and the distant hum of pyreflies did little for the uneasy quiet that had settled among the seven of us. I sat with my arms resting on my knees, staring into the flames. I wanted to say something, anything, but there was no point. Nothing I could say would change anything. Nothing I could do could change what was to come._

_It felt like our entire journey was weighing down on us. But how could I sit there and do nothing? I felt an itch in my fingers, an ache in my legs, and I couldn't be still any longer. I stood up, moving more than anyone had since we sat. No one looked up. The muscles in my legs thanked me for standing and stretching them, but I couldn't stay here. Everyone looked so miserable. I just couldn't wait with them._

_I glanced at the hill beside us and decided that I'd perch up there. As I moved towards it, Yuna looked at me. The need to say something was strong, but there were no words. Instead, I put my hand on her shoulder as if touching her could send my thoughts to her. She didn't respond. I walked on, wishing I had something more to give her. _

_As I climbed the hill, a weird tremble ran through me. Before us was Zanarkand, in all its ruined glory. Surrounded by water, the city of rubble looked alien to me, yet it was beautiful. My breath caught in my throat as I looked on, watching pyreflies skim the surface of the water. This was as close to home as I was going to get, and Zanarkand was the end._

_Listen to my story. This may be our last chance._


	2. Chapter 1

AN: So, I've already noticed things that I want to change about the prologue (namely how I completely forgot the sunset in my imagery), but I've decided that I'm not going to go through changing things until I've finished writing the whole story. As it is, this is a work-in-progress and I don't think it's a good idea to start editing before I'm even halfway through. Besides, I'm writing this for fun, so I want to just go ahead and write it for a bit before I worry about whether I'm completely shit or not. :P I have enough confidence in my ability to write to be able to post this first draft, so I don't need to obsess over editing it just yet. :)

If you're reading this, thank you so much for reading this! I know I'm not the first person to attempt at writing FFX as a novel, but I want to be one of the people who actually finish it. I really am having fun writing this, and I hope you're enjoying reading it. :)

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**1**

Tidus stood on the deck of his houseboat, looking over at the dock where a group of people were excitedly talking amongst themselves. Smiling smugly, he wondered how long they would wait. He could go back inside, make himself a sandwich, watch a few spheres of old blitzball games and they'd probably still be waiting when he re-emerged. Waiting for him.

As he walked over, he sized up the fans, wondering who he'd talk to first. The kids were always enthusiastic, and the guys were usually good to talk blitz with. At that moment, one of the fans spotted him and alerted their friends. With a squeal of joy, the fans came running. He continued to walk to meet them when something caught his eye. A hooded boy seemed to appear from thin air to join the fans. Tidus stopped and frowned. Surely he had been there before? He chuckled and shook it off. The fans stopped at the end of the gangway, waving and waiting.

At the end of the gangway stood three little boys and two pretty girls. Tidus crossed the gangway and quickly turned left to the girls.

"Can I have your autograph?" asked the sandy-haired girl, holding out her blitzball for him.

"Of course," he replied, flashing her a toothy smile as he pulled out his pen. He scribbled his name across the blue and white ball before handing it back to her.

Her friend, a red-head dressed in purple, offered her ball to Tidus. "Good luck tonight!" She batted her eyelashes as he signed it for her.

"Nothing to worry about," he grinned, winking as he spun the ball on his finger. She smiled as he passed it back to her. "Oh, if I score a goal, I'll do this!" He put both his hands in the air above his head, thumb and forefinger extended. "That will mean it was for you, okay?"

The girls giggled, the sandy-haired one coyly hiding her face with the ball.

"What seat?" he asked.

"East block, in the front row. Fifth from the right!" replied the red-head, swaying from side to side.

Tidus nodded his head. "Got it!" He was about to pass the girls when the red-head spoke again.

"Can I see you after the game?" she asked shyly.

He stopped to think for a moment. If they won, there'd probably be a party after the game. He chuckled at the 'if'. "You bet!" he replied.

"Great! I know this great place." She gave him one last smile before asking him to be careful. He just grinned as he moved on to the next fan.

"I've been a big fan of yours from the very beginning!" stuttered a woman.

"I won't let you down," Tidus assured her.

"Th-thanks!"

Another woman walked up to him, flicking her dark hair over her shoulder. "Are you gonna show us that shot tonight?"

For a moment, his heart sank. "Uh, I dunno. Maybe."

"You should do it! For us." Tidus shrugged and turned around. The hooded kid stood at the back of the crowd, alone. Curious, Tidus walked up to him.

"The game tonight... it's very important," the kid said as he approached.

_Okay then_, Tidus thought as he stepped back away from the boy. In front of him were more kids, but these guys looked like they were about to wet themselves in excitement, so he figured they'd be less weird to talk to.

"Can you sign this?" asked a boy wearing a bright red bandanna around his neck. He offered Tidus his blitzball.

"No prob," Tidus said, taking his pen and scrawling his name across it.

A boy in a yellow beanie then raised his ball in the air and cried, "Please?"

Tidus smiled. "Alrighty."

The third kid started jumping up and down. "Me too!" he squealed eagerly.

"Take it easy," Tidus chuckled, signing the kid's ball.

A few more fans stepped up, wishing him luck with the game and asking him if he felt good. After a few more minutes, he stepped back from the fans.

"Well, gotta go," he said apologetically. "Cheer for me!"

The bandanna kid looked at his friends and began to count. "...two, three!" As if they'd planned it, all three kids jumped and cried, "Teach us how to blitz!"

Tidus sighed. "Hey, I got a game to play," he began.

The boy in the bandanna shrugged. "Then teach us after!"

"Maybe tonight... um, well..."

From behind Tidus, the strange hooded boy spoke up. "You can't tonight." Tidus looked around, confused, then remembered his date.

"I mean... tomorrow."

Bandanna kid's eyes widened. "Promise?"

"Promise!"

The kids all smiled and performed the blitzball victory symbol. Tidus thanked them, thanked all of his fans, and told them all to head off to the game. He was going to be late if he didn't hurry.

Zanarkand was a city full of marvels. Vast and extravagant, it seemed to float upon the ocean. The buildings reached for the sky, lit-up like thousands of stars. It was said that the city didn't sleep, and it was very nearly true. Zanarkand was known for its never-ending entertainment. During the season, blitzball was celebrated by the citizens, and in the summer, when the season was over, the stadium held regular concerts for the music-lovers. The people were colourful, fashionable, and the city was filled with light, laughter, and the ever-present sound of water.

Tidus reached the highbridge before he decided to stop running. On the side of one of the buildings, a billboard displayed the face of his father. Dark and chiselled, he looked out with his arms crossed and his signature red headband adorning his forehead. Tidus scoffed, gave the billboard a rude hand gesture and continued to walk down the road. There wasn't any traffic on the bridge, not tonight. Blitz fans lined the road, some too excited to sit, others sitting and listening to the radio station being played loudly from speakers on the sides of the buildings.

"I was in a coffee shop, running away from home when I heard the news," the announcer confessed as Tidus continued on. "Our hero, Jecht, gone. Vanished into thin air!"

_It's always like this at this time of year,_ Tidus grumbled internally.

"My dad must have been his biggest fan. I knew how sad he'd be. Heck, we all were that day."

_I wish they'd all forget about it, already_. He tried to ignore the announcer, but something inside him made him listen.

"'Zanar,' I says to myself. 'What are you thinking?' I went running straight back home. We sat up talking 'bout Jecht all night. My dad and I never talked so much."

_I bet that was great, thanks for sharing._

"Whoa... Didn't mean to reminisce, folks. Anyway... Ten years later, the Jecht Memorial Cup tournament is today! The two teams that have won through to the finals are... of course, the Abes from A-East, and the Duggles from C-South." Tidus felt himself grinning as his team was mentioned. They'd played hard to get a place in the tournament and it felt like he'd already won. "I know there's a lot of people out there today to see the star of the Abes! In just one year, he's become the team's number one player!" Pride was welling up in his chest again.  
"He's Jecht's blood, and the new hope for blitzball! What kind of super play will he show us today? Will we see his father's legendary shot? I don't think I'm the only one excited here, folks!" And again, down came Tidus' mood.

_When will they stop comparing me to him?_

The stadium came into view and Tidus instantly regretted taking his time. The front was crowded with blitz fans, excitedly chattering and laughing as they waited for the doors to open. If he'd shown up an hour or so earlier, like his coach had suggested, then he'd have been able to slip in without much notice. Now he was going to have to push through the masses.

As he approached, someone spotted him and called out. Before he knew it, he was mobbed by fans. Everyone was crowding him, asking him questions and trying to get him to pose for photos. With so many people talking to him at once, he couldn't focus on anyone.

"Make way, make way!" Tidus said, trying to push through them. "Coming through, sorry!" he muttered after nearly knocking down a kid.

A woman and her children suddenly surrounded him, thrusting blitzballs in front of him. "Hey, I'm gonna be late!" he said, trying to dismiss them and move past. He felt little hands grabbing at his shorts. "Hey, let go of me!"

With one last push, he broke free of the crowd and headed to the doors. As he left the crowd behind, he felt a little guilty. Just over a year ago, he'd been a fan, and he hated it when his favourite player blew him off. So, just before he was out of sight, he turned back to the fans and gave them a wave. They responded with a loud cheer that made him feel ten-feet tall, and he headed for the change rooms.

...

The cool water lapped around Tidus' calves as he leaned against the wall. Eyes closed, he thought of nothing. Not the fans, not his father, there was nothing but the water and his own slow breathing. It was so quiet that he could almost hear his own heartbeat.

_Any moment now,_ he thought, exhaling through his nose as he opened his eyes.

In front of him, a giant ball of bright blue light burst into existence. A rush of excitement spread through his chest as he heard the roar of over a thousand blitz fans cheering. This was what he lived for. The crowd, thousands of Zanarkand citizens, sat in amphitheatre-style seating around the suspended player starting circle.

The ball zapped and sizzled, erratically changing size as the roof of the stadium opened up. Tidus looked up, barely able to make out stars for the light of the city. It didn't matter, though. People didn't live in Zanarkand for the stars. People lived here for the entertainment.

He stood up, stepping onto the starting plate before him. Thousands of voices screamed his name and he grinned. They all loved him. Tidus gave a cheeky wave to the audience who responded by screaming even louder.

In the centre of the stadium, the sizzling ball shrank, visibly drawing in energy before exploding in a dazzling flash of light. Tidus stepped back as the force tried to throw him off-balance. The crowd loved it. Where the ball of energy had been suspended, there was now a large sphere of water - the blitzball pool. That energy show had been planned and perfected for weeks now, but the pool was all that really mattered. It was rising from beneath the seats to take its rightful place right in the heart of the stadium.

Somewhere overhead there were speakers, and Tidus could just make out the sound of an announcer prepping the crowd. He was probably talking about Jecht, their lost blitz hero, so he was grateful that he couldn't hear over the cheering. There was no time to think about his father. He needed to focus.

A dozen different plays ran through his head. The sphere pool was nearly in place and he began to count the moments until the starting siren. He could almost feel the water on his skin. This was truly where he belonged.

He heard someone yell something from his right and knelt down, taking one last deep breath. A loud, blaring noise filled the stadium and he pushed off from the platform, diving head-first into the pool.

There was no more sound, no more cheering, just the beautiful silence of the water. Tidus swam straight forward, his eyes trained on the blue and white ball in the very middle of the pool. From the opposite direction swam three players in red and silver uniforms. The Duggles.

The Duggles' left-forward nabbed the ball just before the Abes could. Their right-forward quickly tackled the ball carrier, knocking it from his hands. As the Abes' right-defense quickly swam in to catch it, the Duggles' midfielder delivered him a swift elbow to the stomach.

Tidus snatched the ball, the opposition coming down on him from behind. Tidus felt the player's arms wrap around his neck and squeeze. He tried to struggle free, but the more he moved the closer he was to letting out his breath - a bad move so early in the half. He saw a flash of yellow swimming towards him and feebly threw the ball in that direction. The Duggles player let go of Tidus, giving him a shove as they swam off for the ball. The Abes' left-defence caught the ball, passing it to someone near the top of the pool. Tidus swam down, the team's play of choice firm in his mind.

Duggles swarmed the right-defense, who passed the ball to Tidus at the bottom. He went for a long pass to the Abes' right-forward who appeared to fumble the ball. It fell right into the hands of one of the Duggles who swam into the middle of the pool, headed for the Abes' goal.  
From the side, Tidus sped towards her, smashing into her side with such force that she was ejected from the pool. She flew off into the crowd, spraying fans with water as they jumped for joy. Tidus folded his arms and flashed the crowd a smile before swimming back to the game.

The ball had gone out with the Duggles' left-forward, so the midfielders waited in the middle for the blitz off. The ball shot up and they both lurched forward, the Duggles' midfielder reaching just a bit higher than the Abes. He tapped it to their new left-forward and play resumed. Tidus followed the ball, staying out of the fray as their play demanded. The Abes intercepted the ball, passing it to Tidus. He passed it on to the right-forward waiting in the Duggles side of the pool.. Clear of all opposition, he kicked the ball. The keeper dove in the wrong direction and the ball sailed straight into the goal.

Tidus punched through the water in triumph, moving closer to the centre of the pool. Ahead of him, his team mates gave each other a high five. Blitz off again, the Duggles tapped the ball straight into the hands of the Abes. Tidus swam long, waiting for the pass he knew was coming. He looked over to the mid-fielder who now had the ball. He nodded, assuring Tidus that everyone was in place. Tidus gave a quick thumbs up before swimming straight up and out of the pool.

With a splash, he emerged from the water, the roar of the crowd gurgling through the water in his ears. He knew the ball was coming, ready for his signature shot. He moved his head back and arched his body, sailing backwards through the air. And there was the blitzball, spinning in front of his eyes, just begging for him to kick it. It was perfect.

But there was something behind the ball. Tidus frowned, trying to focus his eyes. It looked like there was another sphere pool hanging in the sky. Suddenly, bright lights appeared in front of it, growing larger as they sped closer to the stadium.

Tidus gasped - still falling, ball forgotten - as the shots of light hit the stadium.

An abrupt gust of wind pushed him through the air, and Tidus wasn't sure what was louder, the air whistling past his ears or the booming explosion as everything around him was engulfed in fire and smoke.

The sky was rushing around him as he fell. Panic tore through his body. There was so much noise, he couldn't tell if he was listening to himself fall or scream. The outside edge of the stadium roof was coming up fast. He closed his eyes tight and braced himself.

Somehow, his hand caught the ledge. Dangling from the roof, Tidus opened his eyes and reached up with his other hand. Just as his fingers touched the cold metal, another explosion rocked the stadium. He lost grip, still clinging with his right hand, but the leather gloves he wore - part of the Abes uniform - didn't have enough grip to combat the shaking roof. His hand began to slip.

_No, no, no, no!_ He desperately tried to swing himself back up. His other hand finally reached the roof, but it was too late. Both hands slipped and gravity demanded her victim. He dropped, screaming as he fell through the air into the clouds of smoke, down to the pavement waiting below.


	3. Chapter 2

AN: Here is Chapter 2 for you. I feel like I got a little repetitive in this chapter, but there really was a lot of running and looking around wildly to factor into the writing. Also, this is the first chapter where I really switch perspective for Tidus' narration. I'm a much better writer if I'm writing in third-person limited, so I decided I'd write the story that way and have his narration in first-person. I'm not entirely sure that it works as the only time I've done it before this is with the prologue and that isn't directly interfering with the story. If you have any comments about the switch of perspective (constructive criticism is welcome, as is blatant story-bashing. You can give me praise as well, if you want) then feel free to share them. I'd love to hear your opinions on the matter.

As always, if you are reading this then I thank you kindly. I really hope you enjoy this. :)

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**2**

The sound of rushing water was the first thing that Tidus could make out. Next came the screams, the sounds of pattering feet, and then he could feel the hard ground beneath him. He groaned a little and rolled onto his side. What was going on? Everything around him felt wet.  
The game. He'd been just about to score...

Tidus opened his eyes. Three sets of feet ran straight past him, splashing in the puddles of water. His whole body felt bruised, yet he still found his feet. Holding his head, he looked around. There were chunks of ruined building just lying around, and as he looked up he saw the source of the water. The stadium was demolished. The pool, still partly intact, was emptying onto the street. _What the..._

A guy clambered out of the stadium and began to sprint away, nearly knocking Tidus down as he escaped. Still partly dazed, Tidus followed him out of the doorway. As he walked outside, he recalled the crowd had mobbed him earlier. Lost in thought, he tripped up on something. He quickly regained his balance and looked down. His feet had caught on the slender wrist of a woman wearing the Abes colours. _Oh no..._ He tried to bend down, to see if she was okay, but he couldn't make himself move. He just stared at the limp woman, numb.

After a moment, he looked up. A few feet away, there stood a tall man in a dark red coat. There was something familiar about the flask at his hip, and Tidus narrowed his eyes, trying to remember where he'd seen the guy. His memories started to reorganise themselves and he stepped towards the man.

"Auron!" he called, leaving the woman on the ground. "What are you doing here?"

Auron didn't turn. "I was waiting for you," he replied, his voice low and gruff.

_Waiting for me?_ "What are you talking about?" Tidus asked. Without answering, Auron began to walk out onto the street. Tidus watched him go, frowning. What was Auron doing here, and why was he so calm? Shaking himself, he decided to leave the stadium, wincing as he followed the older man.

There were so many people screaming, running. What were they running from? After walking a little way, the soreness in Tidus' body began to ease up. Perhaps it was the screaming, maybe the fleeing citizens, but panic began to build in his stomach. He ran a little, running towards the people who were running away, but stopped when he realised he didn't know where he was going. Where had Auron gone?

Suddenly, everything was silent. Tidus looked around, confused. Somehow, everyone had stopped, frozen as if he'd paused a sphere recording. _What is going on?_ he thought.

"It begins."

Tidus whipped around to face the familiar voice. There stood the little boy from earlier, the boy with the dark blue hood that had appeared from nowhere. Tidus opened his mouth to speak, to ask the kid what he was doing, but no words came out.

"Don't cry," said the boy.

The sounds of the frightened city rushed back to Tidus' ears and everything was in motion once more.

"What the...?" The boy had vanished. Tidus frowned, looking around wildly. "Hey! Wait!" There was no reply. In the distance, he could make out the red of Auron's coat. He began to chase it, like a dog after a ball, looking for some sort of direction.

As he reached Auron, it dawned on him that everyone must be running away from something. "Hey, not this way!" he said to Auron as he stopped to catch his breath.

"Look!" Auron said, turning his head towards the ocean. Tidus, panting, turned to look. He stood up straight, slack-jawed, as he saw it.

Suspended in the sky was a gigantic sphere of water. Tidus recognised it from the game, but he was staggered by it now. Larger than three stadiums, it hovered above the city, something dark and large and menacing moving inside it.

"We called it 'Sin'," Auron said finally.

Tidus looked back at him. "Sin?"

Part of the building to their left exploded. Jutting out of the side was something strange, something alien. Tentacles writhed in the air around a thick tail that almost shivered as it began to glow. With a flick, the tail sent what looked like scales flying into the air. They soared through the sky only to stab into the road around Tidus.

The scales shuddered and began to move. Wings seemed to peel away, revealing insect-like legs that skittered around the road. They creeped closer and closer to Tidus, who waved his arms at them. This works for dogs, Tidus thought futilely as one of the winged creatures leapt at him. He tried to jump away, landing hard on his backside as their glowing eyes closed in on him. He scrunched up his face, bracing himself for pain.

"Take it."

Tidus opened his eyes to see Auron's gloved fist holding the hilt of a sword. For a moment, he didn't understand what was going on. He reached for the sword, and Auron lifted it high into the air to help him to his feet. Almost instantly after Auron let go, the muscles in his arms protested and he found himself grasping the sword with both hands to stop from dropping it.

"A gift from Jecht," Auron grunted.

Tidus stared at the maroon and silver blade a moment before looking back at Auron in disbelief. "My old man?" Anger rose through Tidus at the thought of his father. He gripped the hilt of the blade and lunged forward, swinging it at the scales. They backed up, and for a second Tidus tasted triumph before losing balance and falling back again.

Auron shook his head as Tidus found his feet once more. "I hope you know how to use it." He drew his own blade, a fierce-looking katana, and widened his stance. "These ones don't matter. We cut through!"

Tidus watched as Auron thrust himself into the enemies, bringing his blade down on a scale with surprising force. The scale seemed to explode with orange light as the katana sliced through. The light quickly faded and the scale withered to the ground, strange wispy balls of light rising from its limp body and evanescing into the air.

There was one to Tidus' left. He steeled himself and rushed it, holding his sword with one hand as he slashed through what he assumed was its face. There was the same explosion of light and the scale fell to the ground, the glowing symbols on its wings flickering and dying away. The same strange lights rose up from its body and it faded into nothing. Tidus blinked, but the corpse of the monster was gone.

Almost as soon as it faded, another took its place. Tidus looked to Auron who was cutting down another. "Don't bother going after all of them," he called to Tidus. "Cut the ones that matter, and run!"

Tidus nodded, swallowing hard before choosing to slash a creature blocking their path. It went down with little effort. Auron quickly ran through the gap in the winged scales, Tidus following close behind. They raced along the high bridge. Ahead of them, one of the pillars holding up the road had been displaced, creating a hill in the cement. As they reached it, a loud crashing sound filled the air. Tidus looked at Auron. Without hesitation, he ran on ahead. Tidus chased after him and they both ascended the hill to see the source of the noise.

At the crest, Tidus stopped. He reached out his hand towards Auron, like a warning, but Auron took no heed. Fear clenched at Tidus' stomach as he looked at the towering monster ahead. It stood taller than any creature Tidus had ever seen, jutting out of the road like a weed through the cracks in a path. At the top, dozens of tentacles wriggled in the air as though they were trying to get away from their body. Lights at the end of the tentacles waved around, like the lights of vehicles on the highway. And, atop the creature was a long, thick, thrashing tail. It shimmered with a strange light, and Tidus recognised it as the source of the winged scales all over the road. It was like this creature was invading.

_No,_ he thought, _you aren't going to win._ Tidus quickly followed Auron, catching up to him as he reached the creature. A line of scales was already waiting for them at the base of the towering monstrosity.

"Get out of my town!" he cried as his sword hit a scale. It keeled over, disappearing as the vaporous lights rose into the night. The lighted tentacles of the tall monster lifted high into the air, shuddering as though they were straining to get to the stars. Above their heads, a dark orb appeared and began to grow. It sparked as though made of electricity. Tidus shied away from it as it loomed overhead, but it persevered. As the orb grew closer, it seemed to drain Tidus' energy right from his body. He staggered underneath it, determined to outlast it.

"Some can't wait to die!" Auron roared as he leapt into the air. He pointed his katana at the ground and when gravity pulled him back down, he came down hard. Some dark aura seemed to surround his blade, and when it touched the ground it sank right in. Auron landed on one knee, both hands around the hilt of the blade. The katana began to glow red and a bright kinetic force burst forth, travelling along the ground to the enemies before them. Each of the scales exploded and withered away.

Only the tall monster remained. Tidus bounced on the balls of his feet, gripping his sword tightly as he looked up at it. Several of the lights at the end of its tentacles had gone out. As he watched, those darkened tentacles faded away like the dead scales had before.

_So things just disappear when they die?_ he wondered. He ran at the monster, dragging his sword along its side before returning to Auron. Another of the tentacles disappeared. _And each time I hit this thing, another light goes out._

Auron swiped with his katana, causing another two tentacles to disappear, when they all moved upwards once more. The crackling orb descended, taking the very life force from the pair before their blades sliced into the flesh of the monster again.

Hit after hit, the lights died out until there was only a shimmering, squirming tail left. Tidus took his chance. He lurched forward, cartwheeling towards the creature on one hand. With a leap into the air, he twisted himself around and buried his sword deep into the creature's side.  
The base of the tail began to detonate in clouds of dark smoke and it wriggled around violently before falling lifeless. The entire monster seemed to glimmer as those strange lights that seemed to mean death began emanate out of it, swarming around the carcass before they drifted up to the sky. The monster didn't fade, though. It stood like a burnt-out husk among a dozen scales that hadn't come to life.

Tidus stopped to catch his breath, looking around at the smoking city. The skyline was ruined from the explosions, the tallest of Zanarkands buildings now toppled. The sound of screams had all but faded. He told himself it was because they were running in the opposite direction. The city folk were too far away now. He forced himself to believe it.

Auron was already running ahead, so Tidus had to sprint to catch up with him. As they passed a rather large building, he saw the billboard of his father. If they kept going this way, they'd reach the docks. Perhaps that was Auron's plan? The face on the billboard looked smug even as it flickered, and Tidus felt the urge to punch it.

"What are you laughing at, old man?" he spat.

Just ahead, Auron had stopped. Tidus halted just behind him. "Auron!" he yelled. "Let's get out of here!"

Auron was silent a moment. "We're expected."

"Huh?"

Auron ran off once again.

"Gimme a break, man!" Tidus groaned, pushing himself to follow.

In the sky up ahead, he spotted more scales soaring through the air. They landed, embedded in the ground beside a totalled truck. There were dozens, more than Tidus has seen tonight, and he and Auron were running straight towards them. _That's alright, we'll just keep cutting though,_ he thought. As they closed in on the scales, the sound of more landing came from behind them.

The enemies ahead were countless. Tidus rushed one with his sword when they reached the line, spinning around to see how many were behind them.

"Hmph." Behind his round sunglasses, Auron narrowed his eyes. "This could be bad." Ahead, the glowing symbols on one of the scales began to flicker. It folded its wings up and the glow grew brighter. Suddenly, a beam of light shot out from where the tips of the wings met. It hurtled past Tidus, painfully grazing his thigh as it went. Auron jumped ahead, chopped at the scale as it scuttled close to him and looked around.

"That - knock it down!"

"What?" Tidus gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the pain.

"Trust me. You'll see." Auron was pointing at the truck. The front cab was the only part of the vehicle on the bridge. The trailer was hanging over the railing, dangling precariously over the fires below. Tidus recognised the logo on the side and knew that the barrels secured on the back were full of a very flammable oil.

He hurried over, slashing at the magnetic binding between the cab and trailer. It sparked at the touch of the blade, weakened, but not much. He brought his sword down on it again. Behind him, Auron cut down two more scales.

_Please work, please, please work._ Once, twice, three more times he hit it before it started to budge. Slowly but surely, the bond began to break. The trailer slowly slipped over the edge with a shower of sparks and the barrels fell down, closely followed by the body of a scale that Auron had kicked over the side. As it reached the ground below, the fire swallowed the truck and blew up. The force of the detonation shook the high bridge violently, breaking the support pillar beneath. Another set of explosions forced the bridge to crack in front of them.

"Go!" Auron yelled to Tidus. Without a second thought, Tidus leapt onto the falling part of the road and sprinted forwards, darting between the confused scales as they tried to escape. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Auron, the older man barely breaking a sweat as they gave it all they had. But their piece of road was falling too fast. The bridge ahead was intact, but it was now high above his eye-level. Auron was gone from his side. The road he was running on was falling lower and lower. It was now or never. With one last step, Tidus leaped. Something blew up beneath him, the explosion pushing him through the air, his hands reaching for the ledge above.

Both hands connected with the cement and he gripped it tightly, holding on for dear life. Just over the ledge, he could see the edges of a red coat fluttering in the wind.

"Auron!" Tidus cried out, his fingers starting to slip. "Auron!"

The man peered over the edge but showed no intention of helping him. _After all this, he's gonna let me drop?_ Tidus tried not to panic, but his grip wouldn't last much longer. Auron turned to look at the giant sphere of water in the sky. It was hovering directly above them, and Tidus realised that the edge of the road was somehow being pulled up towards it. It looked as though something was opening up from the bottom, shining a light down on them, getting ready to suck them all in.

"You are sure?" Auron asked the colossal mass inside the sphere. _Sin,_ Tidus remembered him call it. He tried to pull himself up.

Auron turned back to Tidus. "This is it," he said gruffly, kneeling down. He grabbed Tidus by the collar of his uniform, pulling him up with ease. Tidus struggled against the man's grip, but he was still dangling in the air. "This is your story."

It seemed like everything was being dragged into the light overhead. Tidus could feel his body being pulled upward as though by some magnetic foce. Auron's face began to stretch upwards and the light grew brighter and brighter.

"It all begins here."

Tidus felt the grip on his collar loosen and then he was rising up into the unknown. He couldn't have stopped himself screaming even if he'd tried.

The light was blinding, but there was no pain. There wasn't really any feeling at all. It was almost like floating, except Tidus couldn't feel any water. Just nothing.

The silence was shattered by a deep, gravelly voice. "Hey!" it cried out. Tidus tried to look around, but there was only white. "Hey!" it yelled again. This time, he recognised the voice.

"My... old man?"

Everything was slowly getting darker, slowly coming into focus. Tidus looked around, surprised to find himself floating in the air above a picturesque Zanarkand. Everything looked perfect, the way it did on the news every night. There was no smoke, no ruined buildings, and definitely no invading monsters. And yet, there was something strange about the city. It was eerily silent, as though the entire population was asleep.

_Why am I floating?_ he wondered as he looked around. There, in the space just below him was what appeared to be a floating stage. Hovering in the air just behind it was a strange symbol made of fire and debris. Tidus recognised it to be the symbol of his team, the Abes. On the stage there stood a figure, and though Tidus thought he knew who it was, he couldn't quite make it out. If only he could get closer...

Tidus tried to go forward, moving his arms and legs as if he were swimming. Much to his surprise, it worked, and he swam closer to the platform. The closer he got, the more he could make out the figure. Soon he was certain. From the bare chest to the bandanna, it had to be him. He'd recognise that smug face anywhere.

Just as he reached the platform, his father's figure changed. It shrank, its skin lightened and Tidus found himself staring instead at a reflection of his past. The seven-year-old boy stood there, his face blank, yet his eyes looked straight into Tidus' heart. For a while, Tidus just tread water, staring at the younger version of himself, thinking. Soon everything started to go blurry, and he found it hard to focus his thoughts. Eventually, he seemed to fall asleep. Part of him wondered if he'd been asleep all along. This could all have been a dream, couldn't it?

...

_I thought about a lot of things... like where I was, what I'd got myself into. I started to feel light-headed... and then, sleepy. I think I had a dream. A dream of being alone. I wanted someone - anyone, beside me... so I didn't have to feel alone anymore._


	4. Chapter 3

AN: I'm kind of annoyed that this chapter took me so long to write, but I have no one to blame but myself. I decided not to end the chapter where I felt like it should because for some weird reason I didn't think it was long enough, so I wrote the next chapter as well. Turns out that I'm just a silly head and it _was _long enough, so I had to shorten it. But it's here now and the next chapter is probably only an hour away from being posted as well.

Also, I've been playing with the idea of naming the chapters. This one would be 'Out of the Frying Pan', although I don't want to just copy what the main cutscenes are called. I don't think I'll give them names on here until I'm a fair few chapters through and it still feels right, but that's an idea.

As always, thank you so much for reading this. You are fantastic and deserve a lifetime of happiness. I really hope you enjoy. :)

* * *

**3**

The smooth stone beneath Tidus' face was cold. That was the first thing he noticed: the cold. Slowly, he opened his eyes. His whole body felt stiff. He tried to push himself up, but the stone was slippery, half of it immersed in water. Freezing water. This was definitely not where he'd fallen asleep.

It was still night time, he noted. Or perhaps it was night time again. There was no way to tell how long he'd been unconscious. He propped himself up to see that he was surrounded by water and what looked like ruined buildings. All he knew was that he had never been here before. His sword lay just before him, looking relatively unharmed. There was a strange type of bird sitting on the stone just before him, preening his feathers. Tidus cleared his throat.

"Anybody there?" he called out. His voice echoed off of the ruins, skipping like a stone across the surface of the water. The bird, disturbed by his yell, flew off. "Auron! Hey!"

There was no response. It was no wonder considering there was not a soul to be seen. Half-submerged walls dotted the area, pillars rising from the water like sprouting buildings. This looked like the type of place that would have been deserted long ago. Directly ahead, he could just make out a large temple-like structure looming in the misty dark. Around the ruins, the ocean stretched out into the distance. But there had to be someone around, didn't there? Perhaps if he made it to that temple he could find some help. He took his sword and tied it to his side with the straps from his blitzball uniform and slowly he slipped into the water.

Water felt like a second home to Tidus. He was a strong swimmer - he needed to be to play blitzball - and could hold his breath for over ten minutes at a time, but this was no blitzball game. He let his natural buoyancy hold his head above the surface as he lay back, letting the water ease his aching body.

A few moments passed and the cold of the water was beginning to soak into his skin. With that, Tidus began to swim over to the temple. The water tasted like salt, and he wondered how far away from Zanarkand he was. He didn't know of any ruins out in the ocean. After swimming a little way, something shiny caught his attention from up in one of the ruins on his right. He swam a little closer, finding a staircase to climb up, and got out of the water. Stuck to the side of a weathered granite pillar was a bright blue sign. It was still quite dark, but if he squinted he could just make out the words.

_Eh dra myht frana pumdc uv mekrd_  
_Emmisehyda dra pmylgacd hekrd_  
_Fedr Macalania pareht dra vuindr bemmyn oui cekrd_  
_Muug hud uh dra mavd pid uh dra nekrd_

"What do we have here?" he asked himself, looking at the words over and over again. It appeared to be another language. He sighed. "Nope, can't read it."

Back in the water, he made a beeline for the temple. There was an eerie silence about this place, but he shook it off. Once he found people, he'd feel better. He reached a set of stone stairs leading up to a landing. The stairs were slippery under the surface of the water, so he climbed up on his hands and knees. The stone bit into his bare kneecaps, but it was better than being in the water. He may be a blitz player, but he could freeze just as easily as anyone else. Again on solid ground, he took the time to gather himself. The mist and darkness made it difficult to see anything, but the temple before him was hard to ignore. It stood several stories high, and while it paled in comparison to the buildings of Zanarkand, he felt infinitesimally small before it. Weathered statues stood on terraces, too wind-worn to look like anything. The wings of the temple stretched out to encompass the whole area, the condition of the buildings degrading the farther they were from the main structure. It occurred to Tidus that this place was a little too large to be just a temple. Perhaps this whole place had been a city once. The architecture was strange to him, but what if there was someone inside? Where there were buildings there were usually people.

Tidus passed under a crumbling arch, climbed another flight of stairs, reached another landing and looked across to the building. Between him and the structure was a large pool of water, and as far as he could see the only way to get across was via an unsupported stone path. There were a few of these precarious paths reaching like a dome over the pool. Tidus looked down into the water below. If he squinted his eyes, he could make out statues amongst chunks of fallen stone. Perhaps this had been the roof of another part of the temple? It looked as if the broken paths were all reaching to meet in the middle. Then again, it didn't really matter what this place used to be. What mattered was that Tidus found somewhere dry.

_Well, you've gotta get over there somehow,_ he thought to himself._ You might as well start crossing._

Treading carefully, Tidus slowly made his way up the stone path. It wasn't as narrow as he'd thought, so his confidence grew a little. He stepped a little heavier, moved a little faster, and soon found himself right above the water. As he neared the middle of the path, there was a loud crunch. He stopped moving, listening carefully. There was only the silence and the quiet lapping of water. He took another step.

The grating of stone against stone broke the silence and the path beneath his feet shuddered. Before he knew it, the path had fallen to the water below, taking him with it. With a great splash, they hit the water. The broken section of path dragged Tidus down a little way, but he kicked against the pull and emerged virtually unharmed. He shivered violently as he glanced around. There wasn't any way into the temple from this level, not as far as he could see. There were ledges just above the water level, however, and anything was preferable to the icy water. He swam over to one, his muscles starting to feel very strained from the cold.

Something brushed past Tidus' leg as he swam and he stopped dead in the water. Fear prickled his skin as he tread water, praying that it was only a stray leaf moving through the water. He felt something rush beneath him and twisted around just in time to see something scaly and green leap out of the water beside him. As it landed back in the water, another jumped up, then another, circling Tidus as if they'd separated him from his pack.

Not more monsters, he thought as panic began to set in. He remembered his sword tied to his hip and grasped for the hilt. Somehow the leather-wrapped handle eased his fear. He could take these things. After all, he'd already slashed through a slew of monsters before. Surely these things wouldn't put up much more of a fight. He took a deep breath, steeling his nerves, and dived deep into the water.

The creatures appeared to be some sort of fish-beast. Their scaly bodies were adorned with orange fins, one protruding from the back of their heads, another on their spines and then more on their tails. Their front fins looked more like arms, though, and unlike any fish Tidus had seen, they had very visible pointed teeth. He glared at them, their beady orange eyes glittering back at him.

He swam at the closest creature, slicing through its body with his sword. It jerked back through the water, shaking violently before dying. Those curious lights pushed out of the corpse and drifted up through the water. Tidus barely had time to contemplate them before one of the fish attacked him. It rushed through the water, fins flicking like the tail of a cat, and bit his shoulder. The pain was quick and sharp, but he quickly pushed the beast off and it subsided. The other fish tried to rush him as well, but Tidus kicked out of its path just in time to miss the gnashing teeth. He swung his sword around behind the fish, the blade cutting through its tail, and it quickly died. Confident in his ability, he twisted back around through the water to face the last monster.

The creature didn't swim at him, though. Its head nervously looked around the pool of water, almost as if it was hearing something that he couldn't. Tidus considered seizing the opportunity, but he was too intrigued by the sudden fear he could see in his opponent.

It was then that he felt the shift, the tremor that pulsed through the water. The fish turned to his right and began to slowly swim backwards. Tidus followed its line of sight. From a doorway in the side of this drowned hall, a large round creature was forcing its way out. It knocked a fallen pillar out of its way, smashing the stone as it swam past. It was like nothing that he had ever seen. Beside him, the fish darted around and raced through the water. The new monster roared, somehow audible despite the water, and chased it down. Its mouth, like a beak made out of the monster's hard shell, closed down on the body of the fish and crushed it. It didn't seem to see Tidus, so he quickly swam behind it.

On top, the creature had a hard greenish armour that tapered at its head and its back. Beneath, four yellow and white tentacles flexed luxuriously. It appeared to have two under-developed wings protruding from the back of its shoulders, and its overly large arms were covered in spiky fins. Much like the towering monster he and Auron had defeated on the high bridge, this new monster had tentacles with lighted ends growing out of its body.

Tidus gritted his teeth and swam at it, his sword connecting just underneath one of its shoulders. The beast turned around, swinging its right arm at him. It smacked him square in the stomach and he spluttered as the force of the hit pushed him back through the water. The beast turned back around, perhaps thinking it had finished him off. He had lost a fair bit of air with that punch, but this thing looked like it could eat him for lunch. If he were going to sleep on one of those narrow ledges, he'd feel a lot safer without this abomination waiting for seconds.

He swam at the beast again, this time slashing at the other shoulder. This time, when the monster turned around to punch him, he quickly tried to swim out of its way. He was just a tiny bit too slow and the hit connected with his leg. His calf throbbed, pain shooting up to his knee, and he lost more air as he tried to gather himself. The monster turned around once more and Tidus felt a white-hot rage take him over. This thing wasn't taking him seriously at all. He was a fly to be swatted. Tidus rushed the monster, hitting it once, twice, three times in the back. _Take that,_ he thought smugly as it tried to shy away from his blade.

This time, when it turned to face him, it didn't raise its arms. Tidus stopped, watching as the monster started to shake. Where its chest would be, there looked to be a cage made of bone. He wondered if it kept its food in there so it could save it for later.

The monster roared at Tidus, its voice vibrating the water around him, and began to swim straight for him. His bravado disintegrated and he kicked off in the other direction. If he wasn't quick, he'd find out first hand what that cage was for. He was swimming straight for a wall so he made a hard right, deftly escaping the creature's jaws. Luckily for him, the monster's size made it slow to manoeuver through the water. Tidus frantically looked around the flooded hall for an open door, even a crevice to hide in. The monster was gaining on him now. He could feel its eyes boring holes into his back.

He needed to distract the beast, needed just a few moments to survey his surroundings. As he closed in on another wall, Tidus quickly changed direction and swam up out of the monster's path. It couldn't stop in time and barrelled straight into the wall. The whole room shook with the force of the collision. Already partly-collapsed pillars fell, trapping the beast beneath a pile of granite and marble. Tidus was pushed back through the water, but the creature wasn't going anywhere as it struggled to free itself and he now had those vital seconds he needed.

All of a sudden, his lungs began to scream at him and he realised that the fight had taken more breath out of him than he'd thought. He glanced about him, looking for some sort of air pocket in the ruins. The beast finally shook the stone from its back and turned around. It looked straight at him. There was no time left.

"Whoa!" he gasped, releasing the last of his precious air. He floundered in the water for a second, trying to turn around, and sped towards the surface. The monster was in hot pursuit. Tidus wasn't sure what would be worse, drowning or being eaten. The surface was so close but his body was crying out for oxygen. He just needed to kick a little more, just a little more...

Tidus' head emerged from the water and he gave a loud gasp as he hungrily gulped down air. It was crazy how relieved he felt, even though the monster was right behind him. He glanced around the hall and spotted an opening. Without a second thought, he splashed off, swimming straight for the half-submerged doorway. The crash must have knocked the stone loose, he thought thankfully. Behind him, he heard the monster break the surface, reminding him that he was still very much in danger.

He dived back into the water, trying desperately to outrun the creature so he could safely get through the door. The monster was his right on his tail. Tidus swam around a fallen pillar, but the monster just crashed through it. Apparently it wasn't taking any nonsense from him this time. He emerged once more, taking one last deep breath before swimming straight for the open doorway. The near-drowning left Tidus' legs feeling sluggish. He tried to speed up, but the beast was gaining on him. There was no hope of surviving this. He'd be eaten, crunched up like the fish-thing and he'd never find Auron and he'd never get back home. The door seemed to be getting farther and farther away the harder he swam. He'd never play blitzball again, he'd never get to go on that date.

And then he stopped thinking. The monster was right behind him. As he kicked, his foot knocked the bony beak of the beast. There was no more room for panic in his body. The door was just there, just out of his reach. His legs were now kicking inside the monster's mouth. His arms reached inside the doorway.

_Just a little farther..._

Tidus was thrust through the door as the monster crashed into the wall. The whole building shook, the water carrying him forward like a wave. He smashed into a submerged staircase, the collision knocking the wind out of him. Outside, the monster thrashed against the wall again. The old architecture couldn't take the stress and the roof began to collapse over the doorway. Tidus, still gasping for air, turned away from the falling stone, shielding his head with his arms.

Eventually, the rubble stopped falling. Everything was still. It was silent except for the constant drip of water. Tidus dragged himself up a few steps and out of the water. Exhausted, he sat on the stairs, his whole body shaking. At first, he thought it was the adrenaline. Apparently the adrenaline was only masking the true nature of his trembling - the cold. Tidus drew his knees up to his chin and huddled up, hoping that he could warm himself up using his own body heat. He was wrong.

* * *

AN: By request from a reader, I'll be translating the Al Bhed at the bottom of each chapter where Al Bhed is present. Here are the translations for this chapter:

In Al Bhed:

_Eh dra myht frana pumdc uv mekrd_  
_ Emmisehyda dra pmylgacd hekrd_  
_ Fedr Macalania pareht dra vuindr bemmyn oui cekrd_  
_ Muug hud uh dra mavd pid uh dra nekrd_

In English:

_In the land where bolts of light_  
_Illuminate the blackest night_  
_With Macalania behind the fourth pillar you sight_  
_Look not on the left but on the right_


	5. Chapter 4

AN: If I name the chapters, this one will be called 'The Freezer,' which I think is a very apt title considering what happens in this chapter. I wrote out all of the Al Bhed dialogue because even though Tidus can't understand it (yet, though I'm not sure how to tackle learning the Al Bhed language), he can still hear it. So instead of just saying that they were jabbering on in a language he doesn't understand, I wrote out the Al Bhed like normal dialogue. There are a few parts that I had to modify for story purposes, for instance the way Tidus knows how to work a flint, but I hope I've made it all believable within the confines of the story.

Once again, if you're reading this then you are the best person ever and you deserve rainbows and happiness. :D If there's anything about my adaption that you like or dislike, I'm more than happy to hear your feedback. I actually don't mind negative feedback, so don't feel like you need to hold back. :)

I'm not sure when the next chapter will be uploaded as I've started school now, but my workload isn't massive and I'll definitely still have time to write, so don't you worry your pretty little heads about whether I'm going to drop this project or not because I'm definitely not. Even if I had to stop for a few months for some reason, I can promise you that I will finish writing this.

And that's about it from me. I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)

* * *

**4**

_I had made it out of the frying pan... and into the freezer. I thought I was going to die in this place._

The longer Tidus sat, the less he wanted to move. After all that had happened his whole body felt weak. He shivered, hugging his legs as he leaned against some rubble. If only he could be at home, lying in bed with the covers tucked under his chin, the sea gently rocking his houseboat as he drifted off to sleep...

_No, I can't sleep here._ He shook himself, trying to muster up the energy to get up. It took him a few moments, but he pushed his aching body and stood up. _Now, where am I?_

He looked once more at the rubble that closed off the doorway. There was no way he'd be able to get back through there, which was probably a good thing considering the giant threat to his life swimming around outside. He turned around and sighed as he looked up the dilapidated staircase. The whole passage was filled with mist, reminding Tidus of just how cold he was. Urging his stiff knees to comply, he climbed onward, hoping with all his might that he'd be able to open the door at the top.

Every single step caused Tidus to wince. His chilled joints seemed to screech at him, begging him to stop and sit back down. His skin was so numb that he couldn't even tell if his clothes were still wet. Slowly, he climbed on. When eventually he reached the door, he gave it a gentle push with his hands. With a loud creak, it opened halfway before knocking into something. Tidus sighed and pushed it again, but it wouldn't budge. _Damn it,_ he thought, leaning his back against the door. He gave it a good hard shove, slowly moving whatever was in the way. Again, he dug his feet into the ground and pushed the door.

When the opening was large enough, Tidus squeezed through. Barring his way were large chunks of granite, perhaps water-worn pieces of some large forgotten statue. He grunted as he pushed against the stone, trying to move it from his path. To his surprise, it shifted with relative ease. Still, it sapped at what little energy he had left. He shivered as he shuffled through the gap and walked out into the room.

It was lighter in here than it was in the previous passage, though that was probably due to a gaping hole in the very high domed ceiling. Tidus wandered across what must have once been a glossy marble floor, his teeth chattering as he took in his surroundings. The large, circular hall had probably once been the very definition of grandeur. Now, it was desolate and disintegrating. Stone statues lined the curving walls, broken and indiscernable on the ground level and very worn on the landings above. Ragged, rotting fabric hung down from the second level like a dozen dead flags. There were several doors around the room, identical to the one he'd come through, but most were blocked off by debris.

Water poured down into the room from floors high above, and Tidus wondered just how the water was getting in. Surely this was the main part of the temple he'd spied when he woke up. The water level should be far beneath his feet. He shivered again and rubbed his arms.

"Cold..." He turned around and turned his head to the ceiling. Through the missing roof he could see the sky still dark and starless. "Need... fire," he stammered. His breath was foggy before his face. There was a nagging urge to sit down and sleep, but he blinked it away. There was no help for him if he fell asleep now.

Tidus noted that a door across the hall was wide open. It was virtually clear of rubble, and he slowly meandered over to it. As he reached the middle of the room, his foot caught on something and he stumbled. It took him longer to regain his balance than he'd have liked, and he grumbled to himself as he checked to see what he'd tripped over. There, lying in the middle of the room, were several rather charred pieces of wood. They were arranged like a camp fire; the floor beneath was black with charcoal. He gasped and knelt to feel the wood. Somehow, despite the water that was pooling in various parts of the room, this area was dry. The wood was dry. Tidus' stomach leaped.

Someone must have been here, he thought to himself. It can't have been too long ago, either. But more exciting than the thought of people was the soft crackling and the slow-spreading warmth of a fire. The faint memory of a friendly old school teacher crept back to Tidus. He scratched the blackness off of a few pieces of wood, finding that it had barely been touched by the previous flames. With flint and tinder, I could start another fire here. He stood up and glanced around. Everything in this room was too wet to be useful. Tidus walked over to each of the ceramic vases that decorated the room, testing the wilting flowers in each, but they were all drenched.

That open door seemed like the obvious place to start looking, and he strode over with a determined vigour. He wouldn't be dying here. Not now. Through the door was another passage and another ascending flight of stairs. Water sprayed through cracks in the walls and Tidus' confidence waned a little. There was water everywhere in this temple. He was lucky to find the wood dry, but it was more likely that he'd drown here than find any dry tinder. That freezing mist clung to his ankles as he started climbing the stairs. His feet splashed in shallow puddles with every step and his energy started to drain very quickly. _This is hopeless._

As the stairs levelled out, Tidus found himself exhausted. He turned to his left and leaned back on the wall, puffing. Perhaps just trying to survive this would kill him. The roar of the water pouring into the hall was quieter in here, but the incessant dripping was starting to drill into his subconscious. He couldn't give up, though. No matter what, he had to keep going. He had to find some flint, something dry for the fire. If he could just get it going, he'd be okay.

With a groan, he pressed his palms against the wall. The dry stone was rough, and he rubbed his fingertips against it, trying to stimulate the blood flow.

_Wait a minute... The wall is dry?_

He turned around and looked at the stone. Sure enough, his freezing fingers weren't lying to him. Right beside him, attached to the wall there was a vase. It was styled much the same as the larger vases in the hall, but it had been painted a blue colour. Tidus spotted what looked like withered flowers peeking out from the top and he reached his hand in. Not only were they flowers, but they were dry flowers. He wanted to jump, to sing, but his body refused to let him. Instead, he tucked the flowers underneath the leather belt of his uniform, crossing his fingers that they'd stay dry until he could get the back to the fire.

Hopeful, Tidus looked further down the passage. The ceiling had collapsed, but there was another door leading back out into the hall. He walked through it, hoping that the landing would hold despite the broken pillars below it. He scanned the floor, searching for something that he could use to make a spark. Unfortunately, the landing was home only to rubble and ruined tapestries. He kept his hands on the withered bouquet as he walked back down the stairs, keeping his back to the spraying water as he went back out into the hall.

The remains of the camp fire were still dry, and Tidus wondered if it was perhaps safer to leave his tinder there. If it got wet, that was it. He'd be done for. Carefully, he placed it underneath a piece of wood and began to search the hall for a flint. He looked hopelessly around the vases before giving up. There were another two doors that he could easily get to, and so he headed for the one nearest the place he'd found the tinder. No matter how hard he pushed, those doors were stuck tight. He gave up and stalked across the hall to the other one. A slight panic was starting to set in.

Tidus reached the doors and stared at them for a moment. Etched into the stone was a picture of a strange winged beast. He wondered about the people who used to walk through this building, the people who had worked so hard to engrave this picture. He gave the doors a good hard shove and they opened.

Beyond was a very soaked room. He stepped in, raising his arm to shield his face from the spray of water. The ceiling had partly collapsed in here, and water splashed down over the rubble. It pooled out over the floor and drained away through a gap in the bricks in the corner. Deteriorating red fabric was draped over the back wall, and in the centre of the room was a semi-crushed desk. Tidus walked over to it and bent over to look in the ajar top drawer.

A thrill of delight burst through his body as he spied two egg-shaped green stones. They looked exactly the same as the flint his teacher had used when showing his class how to start a fire. He grabbed them from the drawer and raced back into the main hall.

The wood was still dry, the tinder was still dry and Tidus could almost feel the warmth. He rearranged the wood and placed the bouquet underneath, then took the stones and struck them together.

Nothing happened.

He struck twice, but still there was no spark. _No, no, no, this has to work. I've gotta be forgetting something._ He knelt down closer and the sword at his side clanged against the ground. _That's it!_

Tidus removed his sword and stood it point-down in the centre of the fire. He took one of the flint stones and swiped it across his blade. A few sparks appeared and his heart leapt. He leaned in closer and tried again. This time, the sparks were close enough to the tinder and it began to smoke. Ecstatic, he cast aside his sword and stone and leaned in close, blowing at the tiny embers until they caught flame. Slowly, those flames licked at the chunks of wood and they too caught fire. Tidus leaned back on his haunches and warmed his hands. At first, it felt like his flesh was searing, but slowly the feeling began to come back to his fingertips.

The camp fire cast a warm orange glow around the hall. Tidus sat back and basked in the light, his body warming, his clothes drying. After a little while, his stomach began to rumble quite loudly. He wondered if his fear had been squashing down his hunger.

"I need food!" he said aloud. Though raspy, his voice had a strange echo. He attributed it to the water still rushing through the room. As his stomach continued to rumble, he grimaced. He'd already had a good look around this place while he was trying to get the fire started, so the odds of finding food were almost nil.

Tidus tried to push the hunger to the back of his mind and stared into the vermilion flames. The feeling was returning to his body now; the warmth was stealing away the aching from his knees. He appreciated it. As he dried off, that familiar exhaustion returned. This time, he welcomed it. He lay back on the floor, arms spread, and gazed up to the towering ceiling. Slumber crept up on him and he quietly fell asleep.

Auron stood silently at the top of the stairs, just inside the doorway. Tidus was ignoring him, but the man didn't leave. Who did he think he was, anyway? He couldn't just barge onto someone else's houseboat and expect a civil greeting. Auron looked the same as ever. His dark grey hair was cropped and his face was mostly hidden behind hsi upturned collar. His right arm was slung inside his dark red coat, the sleeve it should have inhabited just flopping at his side. He stared at Tidus from behind his round sunglasses.

Finally, Tidus acknowledged him. "What do you want?" he sneered at the older man. He stretched his arms and held his hands behind his head as he surveyed Auron.

"It was a bad call." There was barely any inflection in his voice. "Your team lost because of you."

Tidus narrowed his eyes. "You came to say THAT?"

Auron sighed and walked down the first few steps. "It's been... ten years." Tidus groaned. "I thought you'd be crying."

Scoffing, Tidus rolled his eyes. "Who, me?"

Auron walked down the adjoining ramp and into Tidus' room. Suddenly, as if he was appearing from thin air, that strange boy in the navy hood came into the room. It looked almost as if Tidus was imagining him. He was surrounded by an odd blue glow, and a few of those vaporous lights floated about him. He stood at the bottom of the steps and looked at Tidus, his face hidden in shadow.

"You cried."

With a start, Tidus jerked his head up. The unpleasant smell of stale water met his nose and he knew he had been dreaming. He was sitting by the fire, his knees curled up against his chest. He glanced around the room, but he could barely see anything in the dark. Something had woken him, though. Some sound, perhaps, but there was only the steady rush of water.

The cold was beginning to sink back into Tidus' skin and he hugged his legs closer. A shiver ran up his spine. He looked at the dying fire before him and it finally dawned on him why.

"Hey, wait!" he cried at the fire as he crawled closer to it. "Wait! Don't go out on me!" He leaned in and blew air into the heart of the embers, but it made little difference.

"Just hold on. I'll get more wood!" he told it as he climbed to his feet. He turned around, remembering how dry it had been on the floor above, and began to head for the door when he heard it. The sound of something scraping against stone. He spun around and looked up to see a malicious-looking creature hanging from the landing above.

It looked like some strange amalgamation of insects, with four long legs that rose out from its body and bent back down at a sharp angle. Those legs tapered into almost blade-shaped points. The creature had a long tail that pointed up into the air, and though it only had a small head, Tidus knew it was staring right at him.

Without warning, the monster started to race around the outside of the landing. Like a spider, it clung to the walls, but its speed was phenomenal. Tidus followed it as it ran, kneeling down to pick up his sword without ever taking his eyes off of it. As it came full-circle, the creature leapt into the air. It crashed down in front of him, keeping its composure all the while, and snarled at him.

The way the monster danced on its toes told Tidus that it was ready to fight him. He tightened the grip on his sword and widened his stance as it began to lunge for him.

Tidus darted out of reach, but the monster was only feigning an attack. It backed up, then jumped into the air with its front legs raised. Tidus watched its legs, prepared to leap out of the way, but it was too quick. With its right leg, the beast swiped at his chest. Tidus winced, clenching his teeth as the pain set in. He dashed towards the monster, crashing his blade into its neck. It made a strange squeak and backed up again, but it was nowhere near defeated.

Once again, the beast jumped to attack Tidus. This time, he was prepared and he quickly moved to be clear of the creature's sharp feet. He countered the attack by rushing to the monster's side, slashing his sword against its flesh. He made one more cut before backing up and out of reach. The monster bared its yellow, pointed teeth before it jumped at him again. This time, got Tidus in the back as he tried to spin out of reach. Tidus yelped and staggered away, the pain magnified by the blows that he'd already taken. He could only imagine the bruises that would later appear on his torso.

The monster attacked again, this time barely grazing Tidus' wrist as he side-stepped away. There was no way he was going to lose now, not after all he'd been through. He charged the beast, slashing at its legs. It hissed as it tried to escape the blade, but Tidus' still sliced away. It lashed at him with its tail, smacking him in the side of the head. Tidus lost balance and fell onto his side, his sword flying out from his grip and skittering across the ruined marble floor.

Tidus could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He scrambled over to his sword, expecting to feel the monster stab its legs through his back at any moment. He could hear it stepping around as he grabbed his sword and climbed back onto his feet. He turned to face the monster once more, taking a deep breath to try and calm his nerves.

To his left, something exploded. Both he and the monster snapped their heads to look. The door that he couldn't open before was now blasted off of its hinges and coming straight for him. He raised his arms to cover his face and cowered, waiting for the stone to smash into him. He heard it fall short and skid along the ground, and tentatively he looked around.

Standing just inside the doorway, framed by a cloud of smoke, were four very oddly dressed men. The monster backed away from them, lowering its head as it sized them up. They appeared to be wearing overalls in various shades of yellow, orange and green and characterised by an unnecessary amount of straps. They each wore a pair of goggles, except for one man who wore a heavy-looking gas mask. In their hands they held large guns which they quickly cocked and pointed at the beast.

Out from the smoke walked an equally strange-looking girl. Goggles and some weird headgear masked her face, but he couldn't miss the curve of her hips that was so well highlighted by her tight wetsuit and garish green belt. She stopped just ahead of the men, placing her hand on her hip as she observed the situation.

Tidus heard the monster screech and he quickly gripped his sword, turning back to the beast. It reared up, ready to swipe at him again, when something bounced along the ground beneath it and exploded. The monster screeched again and backed away, snarling, and the girl was suddenly at Tidus' side. He glanced at her as she fixed her gloves. There were grenades hanging from her belt. She looked at him, her expression completely hidden by her headgear.

"You on my side?" he asked warily. She responded with a quick nod as she grabbed another grenade. "Cool!"

The creature wasn't giving up just yet. It moved towards them, taking tiny yet speedy steps with its tapered feet. Tidus darted in and smacked it on the head with his sword. It hissed, but it took a moment to shake itself before trying to attack him. The girl threw another grenade underneath the beast and it went off, the monster staggering away as the fire burned its underside.

Tidus wondered how much life it had left. It sure didn't look like it could take much more of a beating. Still, it steadied itself and leapt at the girl. He took the opportunity to get behind it, and as she copped a hit on the thigh, Tidus slashed at both of its back legs.

The monster shrieked before collapsing on the floor. Slowly, those strange lights began to appear. They floated around its body for a moment before drifting higher into the room and fading completely. Tidus watched them, his brow wrinkled as he wondered what they were. When he looked back, the monster's body had disappeared. He sighed and looked over at the girl.

She stood with one hip jutting out and her arms hanging at her sides. Tidus noted the green straps across her chest, marking out her breasts. He tried not to stare. She looked at him for a moment before taking off her goggles. When she looked back at him, he noticed her bright green eyes and suddenly he was able to read her expression.

"Whew!" He blinked and squatted down as though trying to catch his breath. "That was close." As he looked at the ground he could hear the heavy footsteps of the men as their boots crossed the floor. One of the men grabbed the hair at the back of his head and pulled. The pain forced Tidus to comply and he quickly stood up. Suddenly he was less relieved.

When the guy didn't release his grip, Tidus started to struggle. "Hey, lemme go!" he said, trying to twist out of the man's grip without tearing his hair out. The men responded to his plea by shoving the ends of their guns in his face. He gulped and stopped moving, trying to ignore the feeling of bile rising up his throat.

"Fryd ec drec?" said one of the men behind him. Tidus could feel the end of his gun poking him in the back. This was not good.

Beside him, his friend clicked his tongue. "Y fiend! Eh risyh teckieca!" Whatever this language was, it wasn't comforting him. The words sounded hostile. For all he knew, they were deciding who should shoot.

"Oac! Ed ec cu!" growled one of the guys in front of him.

Tidus heard the distinct sound of a knife being unsheathed and suddenly he could feel cold steel at his throat. He lifted his chin and tried hard not to swallow. "Fa gemm ed?" said a muffled voice at his ear. It must have been the guy in the gas mask. He fought the urge to flinch away from the blade.

"Fyed!" cried the girl in front of him. She stepped closer, narrowing her eyes as she looked him over. "Fryd ev ed ec risyh?" Her voice rose at the end of the sentence. Perhaps she was asking permission to deal the final blow.

The guy holding the knife moved it away from Tidus' neck and pointed it at the girl. "Drao yna dra cysa eh taydr," he said, his voice low. Maybe he was offering her the knife? Daring her to take it from him? Who were these people?

"E vunpet ed!" the girl replied, shaking her head. "Fa pnehk ed fedr ic." She must have given an order, because her voice was very steady and the men instantly let go of Tidus' hair. He took a deep breath and stood very still, aware of the guns still pointed at his chest. She walked up to Tidus, came in really close and put her face right beside his. Gently, she took a breath before speaking. "Cunno."

All of a sudden her fist was connecting with his stomach and he couldn't breathe anymore. The blow was surprisingly powerful and instantly aggravated his bruised body. He bent double, and though he gasped for air, he couldn't seem to suck enough in. The room began to spin around him and he fell to his knees. The girl just stared at him, growing blurrier by the second. He fell onto his side as she turned and walked away, and he watched a few of the guys follow suit. Before he passed out, he was vaguely aware of being roughly picked up by the arms. He could feel his feet dragging along the ground as he slipped out of consciousness.


	6. Chapter 5

AN: So, I spent a month trying to think of a way to describe octopus eyes. Yup. That happened. Anyways, here is the fifth chapter of my novelisation. I'm so sorry that it took so long to write, but there were other commitments and a world full of responsibilities to take care of, but those things only slow the process. I'm not planning on stopping until I've finished the story. I'm really excited to write the next few chapters and the chapters after that are even more exciting to think about and I really can't wait to get even further into the story. I hope you're all enjoying my writing so far. :)

I've been kind of paranoid about getting the Al Bhed wrong, so I've checked it at least three times per phrase. I'm still worried that I've messed bits up, so if you see any mistakes, please don't hesitate to contact me so I can fix them right up.

I'd like to personally thank Maechen, resifan009, FFXLover and MarioLuver1000 for their lovely feedback. It's nice to know that I'm not completely destroying such a beloved story. I'd also like to thank resifan009, FFXLover and Echoing Hunter for favouriting the story and Echoing Hunter again for following it. I really hope that this latest chapter is up to scratch and that you guys especially enjoy it.

If you are indeed reading this chapter, then thank you, thank you, a million times thank you. Without an audience, I'm just some chick wasting time, but with you guys I feel like a real writer. Thank you so much. :)

EDIT: Okay, I know I said I wouldn't do any editing until after I'd finished the first draft of the whole story, but it turns out I made a bit of a boo-boo when I was looking at the deck of the ship. What I thought was a dingy iron shed is actually a shipping container covered by a tarp. Whoops. Anyways, I fixed that. I'll be quiet now and let you read. :)

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**Chapter 5**

The ground gently rocked to and fro, and the soft whisper of the sea called to Tidus. He could feel himself being pulled from the depths of his sleep and he didn't want it. If he just listened to the ocean he could nearly believe that he was home again. Nearly.

The metal floor beneath him was cold and hard, and Tidus frowned before opening his eyes. It took him a moment to focus, but a little way from where he lay stood one of his captors in blue and brown boots. As he tried to move, he realised that his right arm was almost completely numb. He turned his head and saw another man facing away from him, then what looked like a door and, atop a strange structure, five bright spotlights cast their light into the night sky. He rolled over onto his back, hoping that the feeling in his arm would come back.

Tidus pushed himself into a sitting position, flexing his fingers to try and stimulate the blood flow. He then climbed to his feet. One of the men guarding him turned around, gun in hand, and saw he was awake. The man bore down on him with the weapon, smacking him square in the chest.

"Ced, lybdeja!" he grunted. Tidus staggered back a few steps before falling back onto his bottom.

"Hey, that hurts!" he complained, rubbing his chest with his numb hand. A painful prickling feeling was coming back to his fingers and he regretted it immediately.

The other guard pointed his gun at Tidus. "Hu sujehk, rayn?"

Tidus cowered back, raising his hands to show that he meant no harm. "Whoa... Okay," he replied, hoping that he was saying the right thing.

It was now apparent to Tidus that he was on a boat, and as he spoke the door to the ship's interior opened with a groan. Out onto the deck strode the girl who had helped him in battle and a taller, bare-chested man. The girl was still without her goggles, and her expression was still just as cold as it had been before. Her accomplice was heavily tattooed with a blond mohawk and dark goggles covering his eyes. Tidus decided it was best to just go along with whatever these people asked him to do. After all, he'd come this far. It would suck to die at the hands of other people.

The tattooed man stopped just before Tidus. "Caynlr res!" he said in a commanding tone. The girl walked around him and yanked Tidus up by his arm. She held it behind his back as she patted down his sides with her spare hand. Tidus suddenly wondered where his sword was. While the girl frisked him, the tattooed guy started grunting and acting out what looked like swimming. Each grunt came with a new action: diving, breast stroke, and he ended with his hands in front of him, pressing on something non-existent. The man looked at Tidus expectantly.

"Right. Whatever," Tidus muttered, utterly confused.

"Tu oui hud cbayg?" he responded, pulling a pair of goggles from his back pocket and holding them out to Tidus. He then proceeded to point at Tidus' face, the goggles, his own face and then the ocean, each point punctuated with another grunt.

"I said I don't understand!" Tidus said, shrugging his shoulders.

The goggled guard suddenly stepped forward, pointing his gun straight at Tidus' chest. Though there was a very sharp-looking bayonet attached, Tidus barely flinched. "Ehcumahla!" the man shouted, holding the gun steady.

"Fyed!" the girl said, finished with her search. She sighed. "He said you can stay if you make yourself useful."

Tidus gasped, staring back at the girl. "You... You understand me?" It had to be some mistake. If she could speak his language then why hadn't she in the first place? Surely she'd have realised that he had no idea what was going on.

The guard with the gas mask smacked him hard in the back of his head. Tidus braced himself, trying hard to keep his balance.

"All right, I'll work!" he said through gritted teeth.

The guards seemed happy with this and backed away. They still clutched at their guns, but it was a relief that they were no longer pointed at his torso. Tidus waited for further instruction, but everyone just looked at him as if they too were waiting. He glanced about the ship. On the deck there was a depression that he was sure was used for taking heavy machinery into the cargo hold. A large iron shipping container stood to the side of the deck in front of a rather large crane.

One of the guards cleared his throat as if he was going to speak and Tidus stepped closer to him. "Ev oui'na hayn taydr, naymmo hayn taydr, ica drec!" he muttered, offering his hand forward. In his palm rested a small vial of red, cloudy liquid. He recognised it immediately - it was a potion, a perk-up for those who have poor health. His body seemed to ache even worse at the sight of it, reminding him how much he could use that right about now. Tidus looked at the guard's face, trying to read his expression despite the dark goggles. Cautiously, he took the potion from the man's hand and put it in his pocket. The man nodded and gripped his gun once more. "Ku uh, aynh ouin byo," he said gruffly.

Tidus smiled weakly in appreciation, but the man kept a straight face. "Oh," the girl chimed from behind him, "almost forgot!" He turned around to face her. For the first time, Tidus saw a spark of something warm in her face. Her green eyes were bright with enthusiasm.

"We found some ancient ruins right beneath us. It's not active now, but there should still be some power left. We're gonna go down there and activate it... and then we should be able to salvage the big prize!"

_Oh, so they're treasure hunters or something._ Tidus had read books about treasure hunters when he was a kid, but he'd never actually heard of any that worked in the ocean, let alone any that were spotted near Zanarkand. Just how far from home was he?

"Okay! Let's get to work!" She jumped a little and thrust her fist into the air as though she were trying to psych him up. He didn't feel very psyched at all, but there was something nice about her energy. For a moment, he could ignore the fact that she'd knocked the wind out of him.

_I might as well go along with it,_ he thought, remembering the pain he'd felt back in the temple. "Roger!" he said, trying to match her enthusiasm. He took a running jump onto the railing on the side of the ship and gave the men behind him a thumbs up before diving into the water.

Once again enveloped by the sweet silence of the water, Tidus let himself relax. It was cold, there was no doubt about that, but he still felt more comfortable here than sitting with guns trained on his head. He took a moment to let his eyes adjust to the salt water and looked about him. The chain from the ship's anchor was close by, and he looked down beneath him to see where it had landed.

Deeper down, Tidus could see a number of glowing red lights. He squinted, trying to see where they were coming from, but he could only just make out the shape a strange structure. After a moment, he came back up to the surface. The girl was still getting ready on the deck, and he took the small potion vial from his pocket and uncorked it. Treading water, he tipped the contents into his mouth and swallowed them quickly. Potions didn't taste bad - they were rather minty, in fact - but they made the inside of his mouth tingle in a way that he really didn't like.

The bruises and aches in his torso and legs began to warm with a pleasant tickling sensation. He could feel the pain melt away and he sighed with relief. From the deck, the girl dived into the water. She surfaced behind Tidus and tapped him on the back. He turned to see her holding his sword, offering it back to him. Gratefully, he took the weapon back and fixed it to his waist as she dived back under. Once he was sure it was secure, Tidus took a deep breath and joined her under the surface.

A little way below him, the girl was following the anchor chain deep into the water. She turned back and motioned for him to follow her. The two of them dove deeper, swimming towards the structure and the lights. Now that he was free of pain, Tidus was glad to be in the water. Sure, it was cold and he wasn't sure what they were supposed to be doing, but the weightlessness and that blissful silence were comforting to him.

They were about halfway to the structure when Tidus noticed something glinting out in the dark. He stopped swimming and squinted, trying to see what it was. Once again, light reflected off of something in the dark water, though it was closer than before. Concerned, Tidus quickly caught up with his companion, catching her attention by swimming in front of her. He pointed over to where he'd seen the glinting. It was coming closer still. Instinctively, Tidus gripped the hilt of his sword, eyes still narrowed to see the oncoming threat.

After a moment, Tidus recognised the erratic swimming pattern, and suddenly he could see the new enemy. Relief flooded through his body and he smirked. Swimming towards them was a very small group of piranhas.

Tidus had dealt with piranhas before. They were a common sight out at sea where his blitz team would train. They had hard silver-scaled bodies and pointed ridges lining their backs. Their fins and tail were sharp, the webbing a bloody red colour. They weren't all that big - perhaps the length of Tidus' thigh - but they were fast and their teeth were razor sharp. There was one thing about piranhas that Tidus found amusing, however. They were hostile fish, it was true, but they were dumb. They'd tried to attack him time and time again and he had always managed to beat them. Of course, it was more dangerous when they swam in schools, but that was a rare occurrence.

As the piranhas drew in close, Tidus took initiative and cleaved at two of them with his sword. Dead instantly, their bodies went limp and they started to sink through the water, leaving glowing, vaporous lights in their wake. The girl swam at the last piranha, punching it hard in the side. For a moment, it writhed in the water, but soon it began to sink just like the others.

Even though piranhas were rarely in larger groups than this, Tidus still made a point of swimming straight for the ruins below. The girl swam faster to overtake him and they continued on their way. Though the spotlights from the ship had penetrated the water, it was still incredibly dark and Tidus couldn't tell what sort of building they were headed to. He wondered if perhaps this was the remnants of part of the temple he'd been in before, but quickly disregarded the thought. On the deck of the ship, he hadn't been able to see the temple anywhere nearby, and those glowing red lights were electrical. If there'd been electricity in that temple, he'd have been electrocuted for sure.

As they drew closer, Tidus saw an opening in the side of the structure. The girl slipped through, beckoning for him to follow with a gloved hand. He followed her through the hole in the wall, swimming inside. Large pipes ran through the room, and strange screens lined the walls. Glowing blue writing constantly scrolled over those screens, the words so distorted and fuzzy that Tidus couldn't read them. At the end of the room there was another screen, lit up with a deep blue colour. The girl gestured for him to go to it. Obediently, he swam over.

The screen was dim, but he could make out a few buttons, and though he couldn't understand any of the writing, he decided that there was nothing to lose. _We're here to activate the ruins, after all,_ he told himself. He picked a button at random and pressed the screen hard. Nothing happened, so he hit the screen with his fist. It flickered, then went black, but he kept hitting it. Each time his fist collided with the screen it would flicker back to life, a little brighter each time. After a few moments, he decided that it had been beaten enough. He pressed the button once more and, to his surprise, the wall just ahead of him opened up.

Pleased, the girl gave him a thumbs up as she swam past him and through the door. He quickly followed her, finding himself in a round room dimly lit with those red flashing lights. In the centre of the room was an odd piece of dormant machinery. Tidus wondered if perhaps they were in the engine works of some forgotten, flooded facility. The girl didn't stop to survey the room, and Tidus had to hurry to catch up to her as she continued on through the adjoining corridor.

The walls, Tidus noticed, were barely walls at all. There were more like wire fencing, the type that poorer blitz teams used to catch the ball in mock-up goals during training. Two pipes ran along the floor, a thick pipe and some clear tubing that carried a luminescent red liquid, marked by more pulsing red lights. Dim orange ceiling lights lit the way as he swam down the corridor. It felt odd, swimming through places that were designed for walking, but that wasn't the only thing strange about this experience. There was a nagging feeling in Tidus' stomach, a kind of dread telling him that there was something bad around the corner.

At the end of the corridor was another circular room, though this one had an odd glass chamber suspended from the centre of the ceiling. More clear tubing ran out of it, the red liquid inside making him think of glowing veins. Tidus imagined that they were probably in the power core of the structure, and so this could very well be the heart of the whole place. He watched as the girl swam up to it, turned, and then waved at him to pay attention. Tidus frowned, unsure of what she was doing as she pointed at him. He turned around and saw that a half-dozen piranhas were speeding through the corridor towards them.

Tidus swore internally and moved closer into the room, drawing his sword as he reached the girl. The piranhas flooded into the room, their gleaming teeth stained red from a thousand savage meals. _You won't be eating again,_ Tidus smirked as the girl raced to deck one of the fish. He followed suit, slashing his blade in a wide arc, cutting through three different piranhas. Two of them sank through the water after the kiss of his blade, but he had no sooner finished his swing when he felt a sharp pain at the back of his left calf. One of the piranhas had latched on with its razor teeth.

He smacked at the piranha with the blunt edge of his sword and knocked it away, but he could see a small red cloud billowing out through the water and his stomach sank. Beside him, the girl had killed another piranha, but the two left were only a moment away from catching the scent of his blood. As dumb as Tidus thought piranhas were, what with their indiscriminate hostility and their inability to pick fights they were likely to win, he knew how crazed they would become and he feared it.

The girl saw the blood and tore a grenade off of her belt. She pulled the pin and threw it at the remaining piranhas. It moved rather slowly through the water, but it reached them just as they caught whiff of the blood. The piranhas started to tremble, their eyes flashing as they locked on to Tidus. Just as they began to swim for him, the grenade went off.

Tidus scrunched up his face and cowered away from the explosion. He was pushed back through the water by the power of the grenade. When he opened his eyes again, there was no trace of the grenade or the piranhas. To his left, the girl punched through the water triumphantly, then swam back to the mess of vein-like tubes.

He followed her and watched as she twisted bolts and thumped her fist against the metal holding the tubes in place. Puzzled, he wondered if she even knew what she was doing. Weren't they trying to activate this thing? In the pit of his stomach, Tidus could feel the echo of his hunger. Shortly, he'd be wracked with hunger pains and he knew it. If he did a good job here, perhaps these people would feed him. Even if the girl didn't know what she was doing, that didn't mean that he shouldn't play along. So long as she could vouch for his co-operation, he'd be okay, he decided. Resigned, he propelled himself up higher and started to smack his hands against the glass chamber.

As if he'd flicked a switch, the luminous liquid that ran through the tubes turned from red to green. Tidus could barely believe it, and he kept banging on the chamber, suddenly hopeful. A moment passed and the glass chamber began to emanate light as the green liquid streamed down through the middle of it. At the bottom of the chamber, several lights switched on, and the whole thing began to shake.

It's like an engine, he mused as he kicked back through the water. Lights on the floor turned themselves on and the room was filled with light. Tidus looked at the girl, who gave him a grin and another thumbs up. He looked back at the glowing engine and smiled, satisfied with his efforts.

And then, almost as if to spite him, all of the lights shut off. It was even darker than it had been before, and Tidus felt the icy hand of fear clench his insides. Emergency lights turned on in response to the black out, casting a dreadful red glow throughout the building. It was difficult to focus his eyes in the dim light, but he decided to perhaps check the tubes and see if one had come loose. Unsure, he pushed forwards through the water.

Before he even reached the tubes, the white lights returned. Relief washed over Tidus, and he looked over to his companion for more instruction. She shrugged and pointed back down the corridor before swimming out of the room. He followed her dutifully, grateful that the lights were back on. As they swam back through the corridor, he wondered if they were headed back to the ship. He was starting to feel very hollow, and a meal seemed like a fair trade for his help. Although, he was sure he could hold out a little longer if they still had more work to do. Hopefully it wouldn't be too much more.

The girl had stopped swimming just before the next room, and Tidus almost bumped into her in his distraction. He was about to continue on when she grabbed him by the wrist. Confused, he looked at her. Her green eyes were wide as she peered though to the room beyond. Tidus followed her gaze and saw it.

The machinery in the centre of the room was sparking with life, and behind it swam a monstrous octopus. In the inconsistent light, it looked fiercer than any of the monsters Tidus had come across. Its body was a sickly purple apart from what appeared to be a helmet made of bone. Its tentacles were coiling and writhing in the water, but it wasn't charging them. Tidus wondered if it even knew they were there. Perhaps they could slip out unnoticed?

He looked to his companion for instructions, but she was already swimming into the room. Nervous, he followed her, hoping that she knew what she was doing. The girl was cautious, but the creature sensed them and, with a flex of its powerful tentacles, it moved towards them. Tidus pulled his sword loose and gripped it tightly as he followed the girl to meet the beast.

As she closed in on the monster, it raised two of its front tentacles and struck at her. They hit her on the shoulders, pushing her back through the water a little, but she looked mostly unscathed. Tidus watched her pull a grenade from her belt and pull the pin before sending it through the water to their enemy. It exploded in front of the creature in a quick shock of fire and fragments, and the monster threw back its helmeted head in a silent cry of pain.

_Maybe this won't be so hard,_ he thought as he swam close to the strange octopus, slicing at one of its tentacles. It cringed back away from his blade, but it didn't look like it was much bothered by the attack. Tidus remembered the monster in the flooded room at the temple and grimaced. Silently, he prayed the battle would end quickly. There was a lot more water between him and the surface than he was comfortable with. This close to the thing, he could see that what he had originally written off as some sort of beak was actually a set of teeth - four smaller, pointed teeth dwarfed by a giant one at the top of the creature's mouth. Tidus cringed at the thought of those teeth crunching down on his body.

The monster raised its tentacles to clobber Tidus, but he managed to evade all but one blow. It caught him on his left leg, knocking him slightly off-course. Tidus saw his companion reach for another grenade and quickly swam away from the beast. She threw it and the shock wave pushed Tidus even further from the monster.

As he gathered himself again, the monster whooshed backwards through the water and moved around the back of the large electrical machinery in the centre of the room. It waited there, out of reach, and Tidus looked to his companion for instruction. The girl merely shrugged and looked back over at the monster.

_Should we swim over there?_ he wondered. _Then again, we could get out now if we wanted._ Tidus looked over at the doorway that lead to that first room and wondered how he could communicate his desire to flee with the girl. Before he could think of anything, the monster charged forwards, circling around the room and crashing between the two of them as it came back into range.

The pain in Tidus' left shoulder screeched at him and he saw red. He'd already been through so much, _so much,_ and still here he was, being physically abused by hostile monsters when all he wanted was a hot meal and a comfy place to sleep. He just wanted to be home. Tidus looked at the monster and he loathed it. It was standing between him and everything he wanted, and he felt his anger building. Before he could give his body an order, he was speeding at the creature, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly. He swam down a little and came up at the creature from beneath, bringing his blade up hard and slicing into the monster's body.

The monster shuddered and tried to hit him with a tentacle, but Tidus evaded the blow and struck again. As if it could feel his anger, the beast coiled its tentacles and moved back through the water to hide on the other side of the room once again. This time, Tidus wasn't concerned with leaving. He swam up to the girl and pointed to the beast, motioning for her to swim around to meet it. It wasn't until he gestured that he'd meet it from the other direction that she seemed to understand. They both kicked off to surround the monster. A pincer attack. Tidus thought back to the coach of the Abes and silently thanked the man. He never imagined he'd be putting one of the old guy's blitz plays into action like this.

Tidus came up behind the beast, hoping that surrounding it would stop it from charging through again. The girl had come into range first, and she hefted another grenade at the monster. It exploded, and the monster turned to swim away from her. It stopped abruptly when it faced Tidus, its yellow eyes bulging as it realised it was surrounded.

_Thank you, coach,_ Tidus thought as he rushed the beast once more. His sword connected with its bony goatee-like chin, and he noticed a large chunk of it break away. The monster squirmed again, backing away from his advance and straight into the fists of the girl. She delivered a hard punch to the soft flesh just beneath the helm. Feebly, the monster reached out with a trembling, crimson-tipped tentacle and swiped at Tidus, who darted out of the way with ease.

It was then that Tidus realised they were going to win. The creature was shaking now, not with anger but with pain. He could feel it too, the ache where those thick, heavy tentacles had bashed across his body, but he could still feel the fight in his spirit. The monster was running low on fight.

The beast turned to the girl with extended tentacles and reached out to strike her. Tidus swam in one last time, coming up behind the monster. With gritted teeth, he stabbed the pointed tip of his blade between the hard, shell-shaped armour that protected the head and the forgiving flesh that was its body. It flinched with the sword, all of its tentacles growing rigid, and Tidus knew it was defeated. He wrenched his sword back out and navigated his way around the writhing monster to reach the girl. Together, they watched as the monster fought to flex its tentacles as it sank through the water. A dark, purplish cloud began to fill the water around the beast, and Tidus wondered if that was perhaps blood. Suddenly, he felt very sorry for the monster. He watched as it finally grew limp, the fighting spirit all gone now, and with one last puff of grey clouds, its body faded into those colourful light vapours.

_Maybe those are its spirit,_ Tidus thought as he watched them lazily move through the water until they too faded away.


	7. Chapter 6

AN: See? I don't take forever to write when I actually give myself time. Haha. Anyways, chapter six is here! Hooray! In this chapter, I found myself unsure of how to convey the narration. In previous chapters, it didn't seem so awkward because I had it at either the beginning or end of a chapter, but this time it was smack in the middle. I figured I'd just seperate the paragraph and it wouldn't seem so weird, but while that works in the OpenOffice Writer program, it doesn't work so well here. I don't know... I'll let you guys decide whether I should be approaching it a different way. Honestly, this is the only way I can think of making it work. I don't want to take it out of the story, but if I can't get it right I may have to.

I also put a little original dialogue in one of the scenes (which I hope doesn't take away from the actual story) so that I can explain how Tidus learns the Al Bhed language. I've decided that, instead of picking up primers and learning different parts of the cipher the long and awkward-to-write way, I'll just have Tidus carry around a translation book and study it at night or something. I can have Tidus trying to translate in his thoughts as he comes across the Al Bhed, perhaps even have him try to decipher the hidden messages around the place... I think this is a good way to incorporate the learning of Al Bhed into the narrative.

If you have any ideas about the overhead narration or how to incorporate learning Al Bhed into the story, don't hesitate to leave me some feedback comments. I usually only have myself to discuss ideas with, but I'd appreciate and value any opinions you have. Even if you just wanna leave some hate, I'd like it. :)

I'd like to thank my buddy Melt from EvThreads for talking me through my ideas about Al Bhed and the game in general. It was nice to be able to get some feedback on my direction and the choices I've made for future chapters. I'd also like to thank Zi3bi the follow. I hope that you enjoy this chapter. :)

Once again, if you're reading this you are a champion, honest and true. Thank you so much for being my audience forand giving me confidence to keep writing and sharing this with you. You have no idea how much it means to me. Now, quit reading the author's note and read the chapter already! If the world ends right now and you were too busy reading this note to read the actual chapter, how silly would you feel? :P

* * *

**6**

The solid throb of pain in Tidus' shoulder and the adrenaline pumping through him was all that remained of the battle. He watched as his companion straightened her gloves, glancing about the room. After a moment, her face lit up and she pointed towards a gaping hole in the chain link fence of a wall. Obviously the monster had forced its way in. With a big wave of her arm, the girl motioned for him to follow her as she swam over to the new opening. Obediently, Tidus rushed to her side and tailed her out of the structure and into the open water.

Though it was still night time, the water seemed a little lighter out here than it had before. Whatever he and his companion had done inside the structure, it had turned on the lights. Spotlights lined the outside of the flooded building, the beams of light piercing through the dark water. Still wary after the encounter inside, Tidus kept his eyes peeled as he swam. More than once, he'd grabbed for the hilt of his sword as something moved in the corner of his eye, only to realise that there were more divers out here than before.

Perhaps that had been their objective, to turn on the lights so that everyone else could see what they were doing. _If that's the case, why don't they just do their treasure hunting during the day?_ Tidus shook his head and swam faster to catch up with the girl. They were swimming slowly up to the surface, which Tidus was happy about. He was starting to feel the familiar ache in his lungs that alerted him he'd been holding his breath too long.

As they swam, a few of the divers gave the girl a thumbs up in passing. Tidus assumed they were thanking her for the lights and felt a little overlooked. He'd done just as much work as she had. One man in a blue and yellow swimsuit pointed down to the ocean floor, grinning from ear to ear. Curious, Tidus gazed down through the water below him.

Wedged in a chasm in the ocean floor, covered in sand and rocks, there was something. It was barely visible despite the extra light, but there was definitely something. Something large, long, oddly shaped and made of metal. Tidus squinted, though his eyes were beginning to blur from the water. He could make out a large circular something-or-other attached to one end of it. There was something familiar about the shape of the whatever-it-was, something he couldn't quite put his finger on. After a moment, he gave up trying to recognise it. After all, that was obviously whatever these people were trying to salvage. He'd check to see if the girl could really understand him when they got back to the ship, and providing she could he'd ask her about their job.

Adding to the ache in his lungs, a whining pain woke up in Tidus' stomach to remind him of his hunger. Tidus thought of the ship, of how grateful his captors would be for his help, and imagined them serving him something hot and delicious to eat. With this image in mind, he kicked his legs a little harder and swam a little faster, eventually catching up to and passing his companion as he raced for the surface.

With a splash, Tidus emerged from the water and took a big gulp of air. Once his breathing began to even out, he gave himself a moment to relax. The sky was dark, darker perhaps than he'd ever seen it, but there were at least a dozen stars studded in the blackness. Stars were interesting, he decided, but he'd sooner go home to the light of Zanarkand than have more guns pointed at him under the twinkling sky.

The hulk of dark grey steel that was the ship was a little way off, so Tidus began to swim lazily over to it. Somewhere behind him, he heard another swimmer surface. It was probably the girl, but he didn't stop to look. The pains in his stomach were growing fiercer by the moment. Finally, he reached the side of the ship, and he quickly found the ladder to climb up to the deck. As he pulled himself out of the water, he felt the night air upon him like a sheet of ice. He shivered so violently that he nearly lost grip on the rungs of the ladder, but he quickly regained his composure and began to climb. He hadn't realised how much he'd adjusted to the water, nor how tall the ship actually was, and it was a long, cold climb to the deck. Eventually, his head peeked over the side and he was there.

"Fa vuiht dra airship!" said a voice from the deck as Tidus clambered up over the railing.

"Dra naluntc fana nekrd," came another voice, this one deeper. Tidus looked up to see four men standing in the centre of the deck.

"Huf, ruf du tnyk ed ib?" said a third man as the group began to walk towards the door to the ship's interior. Quickly, Tidus leapt over the railing and shook himself off. He imagined the inside of the ship, dark but warm, and rushed to follow the men.

They opened the door and began filing inside one by one. Tidus took up the rear, thinking of the warm heater, blankets and food that would be available to him inside. Just as he was about to step over the threshold, the man in front of him spun around and shoved him in the shoulder.

"Oui, uidceta!" the man barked at him, clutching his gun as he glared at Tidus. Tidus took a few steps back, confused, but quickly realised that he was being refused entry. The man gestured he move farther backwards with a shake of his gun before going inside.

"Hey, I helped out, didn't I?" Tidus said, stamping his foot to punctuate his sentence. The only reply was the sound of the door closing in his face. Tidus scoffed and looked around the deck. Perhaps he should just sit out here and wait for that girl to get back. She'd be able to tell them how he'd helped up, and then he'd be free to warm up below deck.

Resigned, Tidus walked over to the shipping container and sat down, leaning his back against the cold iron. He was still freezing from the water, so he brought his knees up to his chest, hoping to keep in whatever body heat he had. His blitzball uniform was drenched and he thought back to a proposal for next season's uniforms to be made of different material. They would be water-resistant so that blitz players wouldn't bring half of the pool into the change rooms with them. Tidus looked down at his uniform, kind of wishing that he already had the new material. The Zanarkand Abes wore black leather overalls over a yellow and white open hooded vest, complimented with black gloves, yellow boots and the Abes logo emblazoned in red on one knee. He thought back to those early days when he'd been training himself, getting ready to try out for the team, and the mess of water he'd left everywhere he went. At least then he'd been able to jump into a hot shower and towel himself off afterwards.

Tidus' teeth were barely chattering, so when a wave of drowsiness came up, he let it wash right over him. As he nodded off, he heard someone else climbing up the ladder from the water, though he was asleep before he could see who it was.

When he woke next, he was mostly dry, though it felt like only half an hour had passed. He sprawled out on the deck, looking up at the sky once more. It was cloudy now, and there wasn't a star in sight, but still he thought of them. They seemed so distant, so cold, he couldn't understand why some people in Zanarkand missed them. They didn't seem like anything special at all, really.

A loud grumbling sound met Tidus' ears, and for a moment he wondered if someone was coming out onto the deck. It didn't take long for the pang of pain in his stomach to alert him that it was just his body complaining again. The deck was uncomfortable to lie on, so Tidus tried to lie on his side instead, propping his head up with his arm, his stomach growling loudly as he did so.

"Uhh... hungry," he groaned as he tapped his foot on the deck. He thought of his fridge at home. It was packed with food all the time. If only he were there, he could be feasting right now. Provided his houseboat was still around, of course. Still a little drowsy, Tidus covered up the noise from his stomach with a loud yawn. It was cut short by a quick but light kick to his forearm.

Tidus yelped in surprise. No longer supported, his head flopped down and he rolled further onto his front. He was looking directly at a familiar pair of red and black diving boots. Quickly, he pushed himself up to see his swimming companion looking down at him with a large metal tray.

She chuckled, her voice like bells as she smiled down at him. After a moment, she lowered the tray, placing it on the ground right in front of him. Tidus inhaled sharply, his eyes widening as he looked down at the steaming food. The tray was sectioned, with one large section filled with some sort of mince meat mixed with peas, carrot and a white vegetable he'd forgotten the name of. There was also a large lump of butter and a few slices of bread on the side of the tray. For a moment, Tidus just stared at the food, unsure of whether it was even real. At this point, he was so hungry that he might be hallucinating the whole thing.

_Should I thank her?_ he wondered. _Would she even understand me?_ With one forceful grumble, his stomach urged him to get on with it. Suddenly, it was ludicrous that he wasn't eating the food already. What better way to say thank you than to eat up?

Tidus pushed himself up and quickly crossed his legs to sit upright. "Whoa! Right on!" he said cheerfully as he breathed in the scent of the meat. It was a little spicy, but smelled quite tasty. He looked up at the girl and gave her a wide smile, then, without hesitation, Tidus grabbed the tray. There was a clatter as cutlery fell to the ground, but it didn't slow him down. With one gloved hand, Tidus grabbed a handful of the mince and shoved it into his mouth. It was a little hot for his tongue, so he chewed quickly with his mouth open to let out the heat before swallowing. He chased it with another hasty handful, then another, barely chewing as he gorged himself. It felt almost as if he'd never eaten before, as if every meal he'd ever had was a dream and he was tasting food for the very first time.

He was barely aware of the girl watching him. With one hand on her hip and an amused smirk, she observed as he stuffed the meat into his mouth. He didn't care. Though the food barely touched his tongue long enough, this was probably the best thing he'd ever tasted. And then, almost as if to spite him, he shoved a particularly warm piece of meat in his mouth and swallowed without chewing at all. The chunk of mince burned his throat all the way down and suddenly Tidus' insides were on fire. He sat the tray back down on the ground and grunted as he tried to cool his throat by swallowing saliva. It didn't work, and he pushed on his chest, trying to relieve the burning inside his throat.

He panted for a second, hoping the air would cool his throat, when he breathed back a bit of meat from his half-full mouth. Luckily, he swallowed in time for it to miss his air pipe, but it didn't go down his throat. Instead, it stuck, and then he was choking. Tidus cried out, his voice gargling and strained as he began to rock from side to side, trying as hard as he could to swallow.

"Hey," the girl said, getting his attention. He looked up to see her offering him a canteen of some sort. With a strangled cry, he snatched it from her hand and yanked off the lid. Before he knew it, the opening was pressed against his lips and the sweet, cool water was pouring into his mouth. He gulped it down with gusto as it washed away the food and cooled down his scorched throat. With each swallow, the water soothed him more.

After drinking more than half of the canteen, Tidus stopped to breathe. He sighed loudly as he leaned forward on his knees, holding the canteen delicately as he silently thanked it.

"It's 'cause you eat too fast!" the girl explained, crouching down to his eye level.

_Well, duh,_ he thought, though he grunted in agreement. Still gazing at the canteen, he wondered how close he'd been to dying just then. It would be terrible if, after everything he'd been through, he died from choking on a chunk of carrot stuck in his throat. He vowed to be more careful next time.

Tidus glanced at the tray of food and decided that perhaps he should save some for later, just in case they decided not to feed him again. Instead, he clambered to his feet, deliberately vocalising the struggle before realising how ridiculous he sounded and laughing to himself. Patting his stomach awkwardly, he took a few steps away from the girl before stretching his arms behind his back and groaning loudly.

"Hey!" said the girl again, a note of displeasure in her voice.

Tidus wondered if she was still waiting for a thank you, then remembered that she might not understand him. Quickly, he spun around to face her. With his most gentle smile, Tidus looked into her eyes. "Hello there. What is your name?" he asked politely.

The girl cocked her head to the side and put her hands on her hips. For a moment, Tidus didn't think she'd reply. _She probably doesn't understand,_ he thought, _she just knows a few sentences to boss around captives._

"Rikku," she replied after a moment. Her words sent a rush of excitement through Tidus' chest and he gleefully grabbed her by the hands.

"Whoa! You really do understand!" he cried, jumping a little as he swung her hands about. She quickly freed them from his grasp, but it couldn't stop his relief. He started laughing, stumbling around the deck as he did so, clapping his hands and shrugging as if it were the most wonderful thing ever.

"Why didn't you say so before?" he asked, turning back to her.

"I didn't get a chance to!" she responded. "Everyone thought oui were a fiend." There was a moment of silence as Rikku quickly drew her finger across her neck as though they'd been planning on killing him. Tidus already knew they weren't concerned with his life, however. He'd seen the guns. What he was hung up on was her word choice.

"Uh... 'we'?"

"Oh, 'oui' means 'you.'" Rikku shrugged and began to walk over to the railing, leaving Tidus still confused.

"Who are you guys, anyway?" he asked, turning as she passed him.

Rikku leaned on the railing and looked out over the dark ocean. "We're Al Bhed," she said as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "Can't you tell?" She paused, turned around and leaned on the rail again. "Wait. You're not an Al Bhed-hater, are you?" she asked him, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

"I don't even know what an Al Bhed is," he confessed, taking a couple of awkward steps.

"Where are you from?" Rikku asked.

"Zanarkand," he replied, glancing over at her. He noticed the curve of her hip in that tight wetsuit and couldn't help but switch his charm on a little. "I'm a blitzball player," he continued, holding an imaginary blitzball and dropping it onto his foot for an imaginary kick. "Star player of the Zanarkand Abes!"

Rikku gave him an odd look. "Did you hit your head or something?" she asked as she moved closer, abandoning the rail.

"Um, you guys hit me," Tidus reminded her.

There was a flash of guilt in her green eyes and she went back to the railing. "Oh, right... Do you remember anything before that?" Rikku turned her head, looking at him expectantly.

_What does she mean?_ he wondered. He cautiously walked over and joined her at the railing. There was an uneasy feeling in his gut, but he attributed that to the fact he was still running on a mostly empty stomach. Had something happened in Zanarkand while he was out cold? Maybe she knew something that he didn't. Maybe she didn't know anything at all.

_So I told her everything there was to tell about Zanarkand... About life there, blitzball, and Sin's attack... and about how Auron and I were engulfed in this light. I just said things as they came to mind. But then I started to wonder. _

"Did I say something funny?" Tidus asked after an awkward moment of silence.

Rikku took a second to answer. "You were near Sin," she said.

Tidus grunted affirmative and looked back out over the water. Obviously she did know about the attack, then.

"Don't worry," she said as she turned to him, "you'll be better in no time. They say your head gets funny when Sin is near. Maybe you just had some kind of dream?"

Tidus frowned. _A dream? What does she think I dreamt?_ "You mean I'm sick?"

"Because of Sin's toxin, yeah."

"You sure?" he asked, still confused.

Rikku nodded. "Yeah, there is no Zanarkand anymore. Sin destroyed it a thousand years ago. So... no one plays blitzball there." She casually pushed herself away from the railing and began to walk off.

_A thousand years ago?_ Tidus heard what she said, but he couldn't comprehend it. "What do you mean, a thousand years ago? But I saw Sin attack Zanarkand! You're saying that happened a thousand years ago? No way!"

He watched her face closely as her bright green eyes fell to her feet. She didn't respond to him which made the knot in his stomach tighten. He'd watched Sin blow up buildings and poison the city with monsters. He'd watched Sin destroy Zanarkand with his own two eyes. She couldn't be telling the truth, it wasn't possible. There was no way he'd been knocked out for a millennium. But then again... Tidus thought back to the white light that had swallowed Auron and himself. He remembered swimming through the air, staring at a younger version of himself, and that sounded impossible as well. Perhaps she was right. Maybe it had been a thousand years. Did that mean that Sin had brought him through time? How was he supposed to know?

Tidus moved back to the railing and looked out over the water. Before, he thought he'd just washed up somewhere, like the survivor of a shipwreck. He'd thought that somewhere beyond that horizon, his beloved hometown was still alive and bustling. Perhaps they were rebuilding the cityscape, perhaps it was an abandoned pile of rubble, but it had been there. If Rikku was right and it really was a thousand years in the future, there was no home for him to return to.

Sometime in his musing, Rikku had returned to his side. She didn't say anything for a while, but her voice eventually pulled Tidus from his reverie.

"Here, I have something for you." She handed him a thick book with a dirty cover. Tidus could make out the word 'dictionary' despite the darkness. "It's so you can understand what the crew is saying," she explained. "After all, you're going to be with us for a little while. I can't translate for you all the time."

Tidus managed a half-smile and looked back out over the ocean. The silence returned for a moment, but Rikku was determined to drive it away.

"You said... you play blitzball?"

He nodded in response, using his thumbnail to flick the pages of the closed book.

"You know," she continued, "you should go to Luca. Someone might know who you are, or you might find someone you recognise."

"Luca?" Tidus repeated, wondering if he should cross-reference in the dictionary to see what she meant.

Rikku smiled and shook her head, groaning as she realised he didn't understand. Tidus scoffed at himself and returned his eyes to the ocean, embarrassed. Should he know what that was? Maybe he was sick. Rikku was determined, though. She left the railing and began to pace the deck, fiddling with her hands as she tried to think. After a moment, she stopped, then raced back to his side. She gave him a soft tap on the shoulder and grinned.

"Okay, leave it to me! I'll get you to Luca, promise!" She looked so enthusiastic, but it didn't comfort him this time. He watched as her eyes surveyed his face.

After a moment, she realised he wasn't buying it. She scoffed. "You'd rather stay here?" she asked incredulously. Tidus thought of the guns and the blows he'd taken from the crew and shook his head violently. Rikku smirked.

"Okay. I'll go tell the others. Wait here." With that, she walked off in the direction of the door. After a few steps, she stopped and looked back. "Oh, and one thing. Don't tell anyone you're from Zanarkand, okay? Yevon says it's a holy place. You might upset someone."

"Oh," Tidus stared blankly at her. She took that as understanding and made a beeline for the door once again. Unsure of what to do next, Tidus leaned against the rail. The air was still, but the soft whisper of the ocean was still there. It was the only comforting thing about this place, he decided. Everything else was alien, but the ocean was the same.

There was a nervous quake in Tidus' body. The longer he looked out over the ocean, the stronger it became. He tried to stretch but he couldn't release the energy in his muscles. He wandered around the deck before leaning against the shipping container, still alone with his thoughts.

_My Zanarkand, some kind of holy place? Yeah right, I thought. Since when? Yevon? Sin? Luca? I thought Sin had just taken me to some faraway place, that I could go back in a day or two. But a thousand years into the future? _

Tidus stood straight, the energy inside him bubbling. It couldn't be possible, it simply couldn't. There was no way that he could have travelled through time. This must be some sort of ruse. Rikku and the crew had to be lying to him, planning to keep him here instead of taking him home. He clenched his fists, pacing forward.

"No way!" he shouted at no one in particular before turning back to kick the shipping container.

Suddenly, a loud rumble erupted from somewhere below deck. The ship began to rock violently as one side rose up out of the water. Bewildered, Tidus lost his balance and fell backwards, tumbling across the deck until the ship was level again. For a moment, it was as if nothing had happened. The ship was quiet, the sea was quiet, and Tidus began to wonder if he'd imagined it.

A little way from the ship, the ocean seemed to explode. As if a bomb had gone off under the surface, a ship-sized portion of the ocean splashed up to meet the stars. The ship began to shudder again, rocking with the change in the water. Tidus tried to hold himself as close to the deck as he could, and watched as three of the Al Bhed men raced out of the ship's hold only to be thrown across the deck as he had.

Tidus glanced back over to the water and gasped. The water was still exploding, like an enormous geyser on the ocean floor had decided to erupt. The only difference was that it was speeding toward the ship.

One of the men found his feet and moved to the railing. Clutching his gun to his chest, he screamed. "Sin!"

Tidus and the other men raced to join him. "Sin ec lusa!" cried the man in the gas mask. The geyser continued to approach the ship.

"Ihtan ic! Ihtan ic!" shouted the last of them.

For a moment the water seemed to dissipate, but it came back with twice the anger. The geyser began to circle the ship, almost as if it had cornered its prey. Despite the sickening grip fear had on his insides, Tidus was determined to stand his ground. He braced himself as the geyser moved just under the bow of the ship. Water rushed over the deck, forcefully knocking Tidus off of his feet. He tried to stand again, but the water carried him off as the ship began to tip. As he reached the edge, he grabbed for the railing, for the edge of the ship, for the ladder, for anything. Desperately, he tried to cling to the deck, but his hands found nothing. Hopelessly, Tidus fell from the ship and into the raging sea. Above him, the Al Bhed stood at the railing, Rikku amongst them as they watched.

He barely had enough time to take a breathe before he was plunged into the icy water. Even then the oxygen wasn't enough. The water whipped him around, and as he tried to surface and take another breath, the ocean tried to claim him. He swallowed more water than air as he struggled, but there was no stopping it. His eyes began to dim as his lungs screamed for oxygen, and before he could stop it, he was sinking.

The last thing he saw was one of the Al Bhed guns moving slowly down into the depths.


	8. Chapter 7

AN: Originally, this chapter went on for a little longer, but when I was retyping it up (because I'm weird about word processors, okay? Also, it makes it easier to do a quick edit if you retype the chapter) I realised that really, the chapter ended before I'd set it to end. Especially considering the next part did some introducing that seems to fit better at the beginning of a chapter rather than the end. Anyways, considering what I named the chapter, this ending feels more natural and just generally better, so you lose out on a couple of paragraphs until I upload the next chapter. Sucked in. :P

Speaking of chapter names, while I'm still not sure if I'm going to incorporate them, I have been making up names as I go along, just in case. I named this chapter 'Washed Up', which I feel is very fitting in context of the beginning of the chapter and the conversation between Tidus and Wakka later on. It's one of the first chapter names that I'm really happy with, so I hope I can think up some more good ones because I'd hate to get rid of this one.

Now, I'd like to give a special shout-out to blackdragonhuntress and Lilcrek123 for following the story. I hope you and the other lovely followers enjoy this chapter. :)

I'm really getting excited about the story now. I'm one chapter closer to getting right into the thick of things and that is wonderful for me. I've been really enjoying writing this so far. I feel like I'm growing to appreciate FFX in a way that I didn't before, even through countless playthroughs. It really is a stunning game, and I really hope that I'm doing it justice.

Once again, if you find yourself reading this then I send you eighty thousand smiley faces and twelve million good days because you are a beautiful, intelligent and unique human being and you rock for having excellent taste in Final Fantasy X novelisations. :)

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**7**

At first, Tidus' lungs were aching. Then they were screaming. As he came back to consciousness, Tidus couldn't understand why his lungs were hurting so much. All he knew was the pain, a wonderful weightlessness, and a great warmth on his back. Still, his begged him. They pleaded. _Breathe, _they said. And breathe he did.

Cold, salty water filled his mouth and suddenly he was awake and aware. He was floating face down in the ocean. With a start, he pulled his face up and spat out, taking a deep breath to appease his lungs. _This waking up in the water thing is getting old, _he thought dryly_. _But it wasn't the same dark ocean that flooded the temple, nor the night time waters the Al Bhed had forced him to swim. No, the water here was crystal clear and cyan in the midday sun. Calmly, the ocean lapped around him like an old friend, almost as if it were apologising for its behaviour as he'd fallen from the ship.

Tidus forgave the ocean, there were no hard feelings, but he was alone again. Where were the Al Bhed? Were they okay? Had the ship been destroyed?

"Rikku!" Tidus called out. There was no reply. Of course there was no reply. He remembered that last glance up at the ship. He must have been the only one knocked overboard. _Great_, he thought, still treading water. _Now what am I going to do?_

It was then that Tidus realised he could hear more than just the ocean. The familiar call of gulls met his ears and he looked up. Sure enough, there they were, circling in the sky overhead. Tidus' heart leapt a little. You rarely saw gulls out at sea, so gulls meant...

His train of thought was interrupted by something colliding with the back of his head. Startled, he flailed, his feet crazing the ground below him. _Wait, ground? _Tidus let himself sink for a moment and sure enough, the water was only a few feet deeper than he was tall. Confused, he turned around to face his attacker. Floating before him was a familiar blue and white ball.

Behind the ball, Tidus could see the sun-bleached sand and cliffy, jungly goodness of a tropical island. He wasn't too far away from the beach, he realised, and chastised himself for waking up facing the other direction. On the beach stood half a dozen men, each of them dressed in yellow.

_Those look like uniforms, _he mused, _and this is a..._

"Blitzball!" Tidus said, picking the ball out of the water. An excitement he'd rarely felt rushed through him. If this was a blitzball, that meant he had to be back in his own time, right? Maybe that whole ordeal in the flooded temple had been a dream. Maybe his brain had just conjured up the Al Bhed while he was unconscious.

From the beach, a man with ginger hair called to him. "Hey! You okay?"

_I've never been better. _"Hey!" Tidus called back, bouncing up in the water and giving a big wave. He'd never been so happy to see other blitzers in his life.

Almost immediately, his ego took charge and decided to give them a taste of his abilities; let them know that he too was a player. Leaving the ball floating on the surface, Tidus dived down as far as he could, lining himself up beneath the ball. Once in position, he swam up to it, head-butting it out of the water as he jumped high into the air. He twisted his body around, suspended high above the ocean, and with one forceful swing of his leg, he kicked the ball.

The ball whooshed through the air, heading straight for the beach. The men all ducked as they watched the ball zoom past them and off into the tropical vegetation. The orange-haired man chuckled as he stood straight, obviously impressed with the shot.

Tidus swam for the shore, feeling almost giddy with relief. When the water was too shallow to swim, he waded awkwardly on, almost tripping over more than once in his haste. As he left the water, the men kind of crowded around him, eyes wide and mouths gaping. Tidus felt strangely comfortable under their gaze. It wasn't until the tall guy with the orange hair turned to him that he felt nervous.

The man was broad and muscular, his dark, tanned skin taught over his well-developed chest. He stood almost a foot taller than Tidus, with a wide blue headband wrapped around his forehead. His fiery orange hair was mostly cropped short, thought the front was longer and was styled to stand upwards at an improbable angle before curving back.

Tidus scratched the back of his head as he looked up at the man. "Yo!" he said in greeting, though the word felt overly cocky on his tongue. "Hiya!"

The man's face was blank, but when he spoke his voice was gentle. "You wanna try that move one more time?" he asked, his accent lazing over his words.

_Finally, things were starting to look up._

Tidus agreed and one of the other men handed him a ball. He punted it hight in the air as the men hurried backwards. He looked up at the ball as it descended and caught it with his head, balancing it with ease. He could hear the gasps of the guys around him, and someone mumbled something about concentration. _This is all skill, _he thought to himself before springing up from the ground. The ball bounced off of the crown of his head just high enough, so as Tidus arched his back and began to flip, his foot connected with the ball and sent it skimming over the water.

He landed on his feet and grinned as he heard the others murmuring amongst each other. Behind him, the broad guy spoke again.

"You're no amateur," he said, folding his arms across his chest. "Who you play for?"

Tidus turned, still grinning. "The Zanarkand Abes!" he announced proudly.

He felt the change of atmosphere almost instantly. The other players began to whisper to each other again, though they were not words of praise this time. Suddenly, Tidus knew why he didn't recognise their sunny yellow uniforms. It was all real – all of it, the battles, Sin, the Al Bhed, everything. His stomach sank as he remembered Rikku's words: _Don't tell anyone you're from Zanarkand. You might upset someone. _Oh how he wished he'd heeded them.

"What team you say again?" asked the tall guy. His voice was careful, measured, and quiet.

_What am I supposed to do now? _"Uh, I meant... Forget that," he said, waving his hands in a nonchalant way. "I got too, uh... close to Sin and my head's all foggy-like." _Good one. _He looked to his feet, hoping to hide his uncertainty. "So I don't know where this place is. Or even where I came from."

"Sin's toxin got to you," the man responded. Tidus recognised the note of sympathy in his voice. _Nailed it. _"But you're still alive. Praise be to Yevon."

There was that word again. Yevon. After the man said it, each of his team mates joined him in performing the blitzball gesture for victory. Tidus cocked an eyebrow, unsure of why they did, but he didn't get a chance to ask.

"All right, back to practice!" the ginger-haired man announced to his team. The men grumbled but dispersed over the beach all the same. The man turned to Tidus, raising one hand in a friendly attempt and an unconventional handshake.

"I'm Wakka," he said as Tidus complied with the handshake, "coach and captain of the Besaid Aurochs, brudda."

At that moment, Tidus' stomach thought it was an acceptable time to chime in with a loud grumble and a sharp hunger pain. "I'm Tidus," he replied, trying not to double over as he spoke.

"What? You hungry?" Wakka asked, slightly amused. "Okay! Back to the village. I'll get you somethin'!"

Wakka ran off upt he beach, stopping to wait at a break between the cliffs. Tidus took a moment to look around him. The team were practising passes and bouncing the ball on their heads, but it didn't take long for him to realise that they were rubbish. While the guys passing seemed to be doing an alright job, the others were struggling to keep the ball in the air for more than a few bounces. Tidus watched as one guy looked up at the wrong moment and caught the ball with his face. One man with particularly dark skin was kicking the air and falling flat on his back, or at least, so it seemed. After watching a moment longer, he realised that the guy was trying to replicate the sphere shot. Tidus shook his head, unable to watch any longer.

Further along the beach, Tidus noted a few small shacks, fishing nets in wooden frames, and what appeared to be a dock. Tidus wondered where a boat would even travel from that dock. Where was this island?

He heard Wakka give a holler and jogged over to him. As Wakka turned to head off into the jungle, Tidus motioned for him to wait.

_I felt like I could trust this Wakka, so I just had to ask._

"It's true Zanarkand was destroyed, right? A thousand years ago?" He could barely hide the tremor in his voice. "So it's just a big pile of rubble now, isn't it?"

Wakka smiled kindly. "Long time ago, there were a whole lot of cities in Spira," he said. "Big cities with machina – machines – to run 'em. People played all day and let the machina do all the work. And then, well, take a look."

He gestured to the top of the cliff beside them. Hidden among the brush, Tidus noticed the rusted, ruined left-overs of what once must have been a large building. Further along the bay, a decaying roof hid its shame inside some bushes.

"Sin came, and destroyed the machina cities," Wakka explained. "And Zanarkand along with 'em. Yeah, that was about a thousand years ago, just like you said. If you ask me, Sin's our punishment for letting things get out of hand. What gets me though..."

Tidus noticed Wakka's voice getting harsher, and the man spit at the ground before continuing. "...is we gotta suffer, 'cause of what some goofballs did way back when! 'Course, we must always repent for our sins! That's important! It's just that, it's hard to keep at it sometimes, you know?"

Wakka stopped speaking. His eyes looked past Tidus and gazed at the sea. Tidus felt uneasy and looked away. Wakka's words were heavy in his mind.

_It was just as Rikku said. Wakka and Rikku couldn't both be lying. Why would they?_

Suddenly, Wakka began to laugh. It was a full-bellied laugh, loud and obnoxious, snapping Tidus back to the present moment.

"But you from the Zanarkand Abes – that was a good one!" he exclaimed, reaching his arm around Tidus' shoulders in a rough man-hug. "Hey, I'm not saying the team never existed, ya? But you gotta figure a team livin' in luxury like that'd be pretty soft, eh?" He laughed again, ruffling Tidus' damp hair.

Wakka let Tidus go and began to walk along the path between the cliffs. He beckoned for Tidus to follow, but Tidus wasn't sure he could move. He felt hollow, and not just because of his empty stomach. He needed a moment to gather himself, and wandered a little closer to the ocean. The gentle lap of waves on the shore was comforting to him. It whispered reassurances and soon he found himself smiling.

_I appreciated the fact that Wakka was trying to cheer me up. But at that time, all I could think about was... everything that happened to me – all of this – started with Sin. Maybe if I could find Sin one more time, I could go home! For now, I'd just live life until that time came. No more worrying about where, or when, I was. Sure it was hard not to think of home. But I started to feel better already. A little better... maybe._

There was no point dwelling on all that had transpired, Tidus decided. He turned back to Wakka, nodding as he caught up with him. The scenery changed from beach to jungle quite quickly, and he found himself in a small clearing. To his right, part of a ruined building was buried inside the cliff face. It appeared that someone had taken advantage of this and made a path up it. It seemed they weren't heading that way, however. As Tidus reached Wakka, he raced off to the left, laughing.

"Hey!" he called back to Tidus. "It's this way!"

Puzzled, Tidus followed him. He found Wakka standing at the edge of a cliff, looking out over a clear lagoon. There was no path forwards, however. "Huh?" he muttered, unsure of why Wakka had led him here.

Though he was confused, it didn't take long for him to appreciate the view. Tidus smiled as he took in the untamed beauty of the area. This island was gorgeous, there was no denying it. It felt almost like paradise. The mountains surrounding the lagoon were covered in foliage, adorned with the same ruins Tidus had noted at the beach. _There must have been a city here at some point, _he mused, thinking of home again for just a moment. _Is this what Zanarkand looks like now?_

Tidus didn't have long to ponder the state of Zanarkand, though. A rough hand shoved him in the back and before he knew it he was falling into the water. With a splash, Tidus found himself immersed in water once again. He surfaced just in time to see Wakka dive into the lagoon in front of him. He spat out the water he'd nearly swallowed.

"What's the big idea?" he yelled, annoyed. From behind him, he heard Wakka laughing. He turned to see the islander swimming freestyle in the other direction. Tidus sighed and swam after him, letting himself smile a little.

The water was salty to taste, but not nearly as much as the ocean. In fact, it was rather calming to swim in the cool water of the lagoon. Tidus followed Wakka carefully at first, but there was something enchanting about this place. Below the surface, the world was aquamarine and silent, yet there was so much colour. A proverbial rainbow of plants grew at the bottom of the lagoon, some muted and demure like a green carpet on the floor, others bright and perky, swaying in the gentle current and of such a rich hue that the water couldn't mask it.

Together, Tidus and Wakka swam around the bend and continued through the lagoon. In this part of the water, a few tall remnants of a building stood with their tops peeking above the surface. The stone was covered with algae and weathered from the water, but they still stood, remnants of the city that was. These ruins didn't take away from the beauty of the lagoon, but added a tinge of sadness to it. It felt like there was always going to be another ruin, another forgotten building to remind Tidus that he was misplaced.

These thoughts slowed Tidus a little, and when he looked up Wakka was nowhere in sight. Thinking the man had just swam further ahead, Tidus continued on. With the bluish-grey rock walls surrounding the water, he couldn't have gone far. When Tidus reached a dead end and still couldn't see Wakka, a tiny shock of panic ran through him. It was quickly exacerbated when he heard a splash behind him and felt a strong, muscular arm wrap around his neck. The choke hold was followed by a deep, chesty chuckle. Wakka was quite the joker, it would seem.

"Lemme go!" Tidus grumbled, trying to squirm out of Wakka's grip. It wasn't particularly tight, so he could breathe easily, but it definitely wasn't comfortable.

"Got a favour to ask ya," Wakka said.

Tidus rolled his eyes. He had wondered when this would come up. He'd seen the Aurochs practising on the beach, and quite frankly they were horrible. "You want me on your team, right?"

Wakka released him then, leaving a writhing Tidus to sink underneath the water a little way before kicking back up tot he surface. _Mental note: don't stop treading water next time. _Tidus lay back to float as Wakka began to explain himself.

"A major blitz tournament's coming up. All the teams in Spira'll be there! It's so huge, I'm sure someone there will recognise you! Then you can go back to your old team, right?"

Tidus kicked gently, moving away from Wakka. _My old team is dead now, _Tidus thought to himself. _I doubt there'll be any ghost blitzers at this tournament._

"It'll be fun!" Wakka reassured. His voice was full of enthusiasm, and it reminded Tidus of Rikku. "What do you say, huh? Come on, come on!"

_I really hope she's okay. _Tidus sighed and tried to push those thoughts to the back of his mind. "Sure thing," he replied, though he couldn't mask the note of apathy in his voice.

Wakka chuckled again, oblivious. "Dude! Our team is gonna rock, eh?"

The uneasy indifference was a feeling that Tidus didn't like, but he embraced it for this one moment. He could confront his feeling when he had time to himself, but for now he'd have to indulge Wakka. The islander showed him a tunnel that ran beneath the surface of the lagoon and came out on the other side of the rocks. He assured Tidus that it wasn't a long swim, and they both took deep breaths before diving again.

_I thought then that blitzball and sin were the only two things that Spira and Zanarkand had in common. I wasn't too far off, either._

The tunnel was short, and after only a few minutes of swimming they emerged on the other side. They broke the surface of the water to find themselves in a small extension of the lagoon, surrounded by trees. Before them, the dirt bank rose sharply out of the water. A wide dirt path lead from the bank up the incline of the hill and on to what Tidus expected was a clearing at the top. The two of them climbed out of the water, shaking themselves off before ascending the hill. Wakka assumed the lead, and though neither of them spoke, Tidus felt like he was the only one being quiet. Wakka walked with the lazy confidence of someone who knew the area well. His silence felt natural, as though he were listening to the quiet song of the birds in the trees around them.

Eventually, they reached the top of the hill. Tidus felt quite spent after the trek, his limbs a little shaky from hunger. There were no trees atop the hill, just a worn dirt clearing and a strange pill of rubble and rocks that Tidus assumed was part of another ruin. A rope fence ran along the edge of the clearing, and Tidus was soon to find out that they'd climbed higher than he'd thought.

Wakka walked up to the fence and waved for Tidus to follow. He pointed down over the edge. The hill that they stood on seemed more like a mountain from this point, and now his exhaustion made sense. The fence was there to stop people from standing too close to the edge and falling down the sheer face of a cliff. Below, the tops of the trees seemed a mile away, and in the centre of all those trees there was what appeared to be a small village.

"This is where I was born," Wakka announced as he pointed to the village. "I started blitz when I was five. I joined the Aurochs at thirteen... ten years ago. Ten years... and we never won a game."

Tidus was taken aback by Wakka's words. _Ten whole years without a win?!_

Wakka paused, scratching the back of his head. "Well, after last year's tournament, I quit. Time seemed right." He crossed in front of Tidus, headed for a path just right of the way they'd come up.

Tidus' stomach grumbled louder than ever. He wondered just where this conversation was going and looked longingly down at the village. He could almost smell the food on the wind. He steeled himself against the hunger and followed Wakka to the second path. It gradually worked its way down the side of the hill, almost as if it were deliberately trying to take the least steep route.

"So, after quitting, I got this new job, ya?" Wakka continued as they walked. "But every time my mind wandered, I thought about the game."

Tidus scoffed. "Ten years without a single win'll do that," he said, still astounded at the losing streak. There hadn't been a single team in Zanarkand that had lost that hard. Not ever.

Wakka grunted in agreement and paused to look over at the ocean. From here, it looked like it went on forever, kissing the clouds on the horizon before stretching into eternity. "My first match last year was my big chance," he said. "But something else was on my mind. I couldn't focus."

"Nice excuse," Tidus replied jokingly.

"Hey, hey!" Wakka narrowed his eyes at Tidus, but there was an air of defeat about him now. Tidus hadn't known Wakka very long, that much was certain, but it bothered him that enthusiasm had left the man.

"So, you want to win the next tournament – go out with a bang," Tidus offered. Wakka turned and nodded. _Good, I can work with this, _Tidus thought.

"So, what's our goal?" he asked Wakka.

"I don't care how we do. Long as we play our best," Wakka responded earnestly. "If we give it our all, I can walk away happy."

Wakka's voice was honest, but Tidus wasn't satisfied with his answer. "No, no, no, no,no. If I say, 'What's our goal?' you say, 'Victory!'" He punctuated the word by punching the air with a clenched fist. "When you play in a blitzball tournament, you play to win!"

Victory? You serious?" Wakka replied as though it were a new concept to him.

_Well, I suppose it is a new concept, really. Ten years... damn. _Tidus nodded and grinned at Wakka, who smiled back and took the lead once more. Together, they continued down the hillside.


	9. Chapter 8

AN: I just spent the last thirty minutes messing around with copying and pasting this chapter because the font just isn't right, but this is as close as I could get it. I think I might send a message to the admins or moderators or support or whoever requesting that font and text size modifiers be added to the Copy-N-Paste part of creating a new document.

Anyways, to more important matters. Chapter eight is here! Time to party, yeah? No. No, it's not time to part, it's time to get your reading glasses. Duh. Anywho, this chapter was surprisingly easy to write. I mean, not that the other chapters were difficult, but this one just seemed to flow right away. I didn't have to sit and stare at the blinking cursor while I tried to think of the next word to use or how to set a scene. Okay, so I did in one part. Yeah, I'm a liar, but so is all fiction, so there.

It was a little difficult, trying to describe Besaid Village. I wanted Tidus to walk down to the ruined house and talk to the guy there, but I couldn't figure out a legitimate reason for him to go down there. I still plan on it, but I couldn't place it here. Also, the narration is still bugging me. In my word processor, there's an enter space between the normal story and the narration, but the space is waay too big when I type it in here so I leave it out. I feel like that's probably the best way to do it, but I'm still a bit iffy. All I know for sure is that I don't want to cut the narration out at all. I also wrote Gatta as a little bit cocky and distrustful, although it wasn't hard considering his dialogue. I know that he's not like that throughout the whole game, but I feel like it's a good way to introduce his character and emphasise how calm Luzzu is in comparison.

Please, if you have any suggestions about how I can better the story or about things to come in the story, don't hesitate to leave me some feedback. I only just remembered some of choices I have to make in the game and now I'm fretting a little, not sure of what to choose for this novelisation. I'm also still unsure about the narration and how I integrate it with the story, so if you have any suggestions, fire away. I realise that it can be a bit of a drag leaving feedback (I know that I avoid it a lot, which I probably shouldn't), but I'd really appreciate it if you could leave some of your thoughts for me to ponder over.

Now, I'd like to thank blackdragonhuntress for being a total babe and encouraging me to write this chapter. Also, I'd like to thank all of the people who read through these seven chapters over the past few weeks. Even if I'm not getting a lot of feedback, I've been watching the view count like a hawk and I feel absolutely awesome every single time it goes up. It's really nice to know that I'm not just feeding this story into the ether. It's nice to know you have an audience. I hope every single one of you enjoy this chapter, and I hope you look forward to the next chapter because I'm getting really excited just thinking about how the story is progressing.

If you're reading this, I hope that you find money in the gutter because that is awesome and you are awesome. Now run along, except don't, stay here and read. :)

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**8**

As Tidus and Wakka neared the bottom of the hill, two strangely dressed men jogged out from the trees. Tidus was caught a little off-guard, and he surveyed them closely as they approached. One was tall with violent red hair, the other smaller in stature with much darker features. Both wore pauldrons on their shoulders, which made them look even more bizarre to Tidus. He'd only ever seen pauldrons in historical books.

The red-haired man looked Tidus over as well, surely making his own assumptions, before a look of understanding spread across his face.

"Ah, the one from the sea!" he greeted with a kind of musical voice.

His companion looked much more serious despite wearing ragged shorts suited for a boy underneath his unnecessary armour. "Be on guard," he declared in a voice that betrayed his youth. "There are fiends on the road today!"

_Fiends? Do they mean monsters? _Tidus looked around wildly, instinctively reaching for his sword. The hilt, however, wasn't where he expected it to be. In fact, it wasn't there at all._ I must have lost it when I fell from the ship, _he thought. Suddenly he felt a whole lot more vulnerable.

"After surviving your run-in with Sin, 'twould be a shame if something happened now," the man continued. With that, both strangers turned on heel and continued on down the path.

Tidus and Wakka watched after them for a while. "Who were they?" he asked when they were out of earshot.

"Luzzu and Gatta – Crusaders," Wakka said.

"Crews of what?"

Wakka frowned. "What, you forgot that, too?"

Tidus was shocked at Wakka's response. He was more aware of how out of place he was now than he had been on the Al Bhed ship. Feeling more alone than ever, he looked to his feet. Maybe he looked more pathetic than he thought, because Wakka was quick to apologise.

"Hey, sorry. Don't worry about it, I'll help you out."

"Cool," Tidus replied, feeling a little better. "In return, come tournament time, I'll make sure we take the cup!"

Wakka chuckled. "Cool. About the Crusaders, you can ask them yourself. They've got a lodge in the village," he explained.

With that, they moved on down the hill. Soon the path began to level out, and it wasn't long before they reached their destination.

"Besaid Village," Wakka declared proudly, slapping Tidus on the shoulder.

Tidus didn't think there was much to look at. The village seemed to be comprised of several one-room huts lining a dirty paved clearing. Beyond them loomed a large, grey stone building with domed pillars reaching out from the roof like insect legs.

"They got any food there?" Tidus whined, feeling weak under Wakka's heavy hand.

Wakka chuckled. "We'll get you something over there later," he said, pointing out a hut on the right. "Take a look around first."

Tidus looked at Wakka, hoping the pained expression on his face would bring 'later' a little closer. Wakka didn't seem to notice.

"Let's see..." He glanced around the village before pointing over to the largest of the huts. It looked much like a tent, with patterned blue canvas walls and a cloth draped over the doorway. "The Crusaders Lodge is over yonder. Luzzu and Gatta are usually there."

_They must have been the guys on the road. _A strange wooden carving rested atop the hut, with high ridges up its back and exaggerated pointy teeth. After a moment, Tidus realised that it was supposed to be a piranha.

Wakka began to walk off, but stopped after a few paces. He paused for a moment. "Oh, right," he muttered. He turned and walked back towards Tidus, whispering, "Over here!" as he passed by.

"Huh? What's up?" Tidus asked. He followed Wakka back out of the village and they ducked behind the wall that separated the huts from the jungle.

"You do remember the prayer, right?" Wakka asked Tidus, leaning in close. He spoke in a hushed voice, his dark eyes steady.

Tidus felt suddenly tiny under his gaze. Of course he didn't know the prayer. He'd only spoken with Wakka and the Al Bhed since arriving in Spira or whatever this world was called, and the Al Bhed didn't seem like the praying type. "I don't remember," he replied, his voice a little shaky.

_I didn't know it in the first place, to tell the truth._

"Man, that's like the basics of the basics," Wakka said, raising his eyebrows. "Alright, I'll show you."

Wakka took two steps backwards to give himself room for the prayer. He began by bracing himself, one foot in front, one foot behind, and holding his arms out at his sides. With one smooth motion, he brought his arms up and around to meet at his chest, one above and one below as though he were holding an orb between them. He stood up straight as he did this, bringing his feet together, toes pointed forward, eyes straight ahead. Then, straight-faced, he bend his torso forward in a rigid bow, arms still steady before him.

Tidus waited for Wakka to look up with a goofy grin and apologise for the joke, because this had to be a joke. But no, when Wakka looked up his face was relaxed, no hint of mischief anywhere.

"Go ahead, you try," he said, smiling kindly.

Though he felt silly, Tidus complied. He held his arms straight on either side and took a step back before bringing it all forward, holding the imaginary ball between his hands and bowing to Wakka. He looked up at the islander expectantly, waiting for him to break out laughing.

"Hey, not bad," he said, nodding. Tidus stood up straight and stared at him, dumbfounded. Wakka walked around him, slapping his hand on Tidus' shoulder again. "Okay, now go present yourself to the temple summoner," he instructed, pointing to the foreboding building at the back of the village. With that, he walked off towards the huts, leaving Tidus standing with his imaginary ball and more questions than answers.

_Any blitzball player would know that prayer. It was the blitzball sign for victory._

Tidus stared at his hands as he turned to the village. Could the blitzball victory sign really be a prayer here? It had been a thousand years since Zanarkand's prime, it was possible that the original meaning was lost. But still, Tidus felt strange. He shook off the weirdness and wandered into the village, determined to see this through. There was a hot meal waiting for him at the end of all this, and if he had to go and talk to some old guy in the temple, so be it.

First things first, Tidus headed over to the piranha-adorned tent that Wakka had referred to as the Crusaders Lodge. Those guys seemed like the type to have weapons nearby, considering the way they spoke about monsters before. He felt light without his sword by his side, and very unprotected.

As Tidus made his way out to the tent, he was almost bowled over by a little girl chasing after a dog. He chuckled as he watched her, determined to catch the dog, giggling as she raced around the town. Besaid seemed like a sleepy little village, but there was something charming about it. An elderly couple were strolling back from the temple, their wizened faces relaxed and content. It felt like nothing bad could happen here. Still, he would like a weapon, just in case.

He was a little nervous as he pushed aside the cloth door, but walked in all the same. Inside, the room was cluttered with crates and heavy sacks, though there was a clear walkway through the first room and into the second. To his left, there was a counter manned by a guy wearing pauldrons and a blue cowl. Behind it, a dozen spears rested in their rack. To his right, the men from the road sat at a table, pondering over a map.

Tidus stepped over to the table, wondering how to bring up the subject. The shorter one noticed him approach and turned around. His dark eyes were narrowed as he looked Tidus up and down.

"Hey, you!" he began. "You were attacked by Sin... right? Recently was it?"

Tidus shrugged. "I think so." It could have been yesterday. It could have been a week ago. Time passed differently while he was unconscious.

"So, Sin can't be far, right?" His eyes were now slits in his stern face. "You're not hiding anything, are you?"

"Why would I?" Tidus responded, offended by his gall. He looked the guy up and down, wondering whether it was the pauldrons or his height that made him so passive-aggressive.

The red-haired man was much calmer than his companion. His voice was smooth like silk and slightly apologetic as he spoke. _This one must be Luzzu, _Tidus decided. "If Sin's nearby, it'll attack the island for sure," he explained. "But it hasn't. I wonder why?"

Somehow, Tidus felt guilty for not knowing the answer. He thought of Zanarkand again, of the destruction that Sin had caused. This quiet little village wouldn't stand a chance against a force like that.

"I'm sorry. I really don't know anything." He looked at his feet, feeling a little ashamed. "To tell the truth, I don't even know what the Crusaders are."

Gatta's head snapped to Tidus. "You're kidding, right?" The note of disbelief in his voice was barely masked.

"Sin! The toxin!" Luzzu reminded. "Gatta, tell him who we are!"

"Yes sir!" Gatta stood up quickly, straightening his back as he brought his arm up and held it parallel to his chest in salute.

"The Crusaders are sworn to battle Sin!" he began, his voice almost mechanical as he recited the message. "We have chapters throughout Spira, accepting all who wish to join our struggle! The hero Mi'ihen formed the Crusaders eight hundred years ago as the Crimson Blades. Later, our ranks grew and we called ourselves the Crusaders. We've been fighting Sin ever since!"

Tidus frowned. "What, you've been fighting eight hundred years and you still haven't beaten it?" he asked incredulously.

Gatta opened his mouth to speak, but his response was nothing but a jumbled stutter as he tried to think of a reply.

"Well, we've steered Sin away from towns many times! And that's all we can do. Nobody's ever been able to defeat it," Luzzu informed him. "Our mission as Crusaders is to protect the temples, towns, villages, and people of Spira."

"So then whose job is it to defeat Sin?" Tidus asked, still surprised that they'd been fighting for this long without a victory.

Gatta shook his head. "Is Sin's toxin really this bad, sir?"

Luzzu sighed heavily. "It does seem rather bad..." When he looked up, he gave Tidus a gentle smile. "We could just tell you, but I think it better for you to try and remember. Go pray at the temple," he instructed. "Perhaps Yevon will help you regain your memory."

Tidus nodded and backed away from the table. The Crusaders resumed their discussion over the map and he left the tent. Once he was outside, he looked over at the temple. _So Yevon is the name of their religion or whatever, _he concluded. Praying couldn't do him any harm, he supposed, and so he wandered over to the temple. After all, no matter how pointless this was going to be, he'd still get a meal afterwards.

He climbed the temple steps and walked between the marble columns that held up the roof. The little girl and the dog rushed past him and in through the ajar temple doors. Before she went inside, she stopped to look back at Tidus. Her dark eyes sparkled as she giggled, and she turned to chase the dog once more. There was a ball of nerves in Tidus' stomach, slowly growing the closer he got to the door. He took a deep breath. If that little girl wasn't scared, then he shouldn't be either.

The first thing Tidus noticed was the singing coming from deep within the temple. Somewhere inside, a group of women were singing in some strange language. It sounded a little like the Al Bhed language, but that wasn't what caught his attention. The tune that they sang, it was strangely familiar. A song that he knew but just couldn't place.

Eventually, he followed the song and stepped through the doorway. The temple looked so much smaller from the outside. Inside, he felt dwarfed by the towering walls. He gazed up at the high domed ceiling and thought back to the flooded temple where Rikku's crew had captured him. The architecture was very similarly styled, he realised as he looked around the room.

The room was large and circular, with two dozen life-sized statues styled to look like what Tidus assumed were nuns and priests lining the walls. Straight ahead, four larger statues stood, each of a different man wearing either robes or armour. Between the middle two, a staircase led up to an ornate door. Tidus walked slowly, his shoes clicking on the paved floor. There were people in here praying to these statues. They all raised their arms and performed the blitzball victory sign as though it were holy. A small shiver ran down his spine as he watched.

After a moment, Tidus noticed two even larger statues standing nearly as tall as the ceiling. They stood behind the four unique statues, one either side of the room, styled as if they were leaning their backs against immense pillars that held up the roof. The one to the left was a woman, scantily clad with wild hair and thigh-high armoured boots. The other, a man wearing a large set of robes and a helmet, clenching his fists like a display of might. Behind them, tapestries of a deep red and pale blue decorated the room.

_It was then, standing in that place. I began to realise how different this world was from my own._

Despite the light that radiated from the torches, it was dim in here. The air was heavy with incense and the sound of the song. _So, I'm here now. Might as well get this over with. Where do I pray? _Tidus walked over to one of the four statues on the other side of the room. The stone man stood almost three times his height, wearing long robes and a foreign-looking cloth headdress that looked quite odd to him.

"Ten years have passed since Lord Braska became high summoner," said a rough voice at Tidus' right. He jumped and turned to see an old man strolling towards him. He wore white, dark purple and burned yellow robes, with detailed embroidery on the sleeves and front. They were so clean and pressed that Tidus instantly knew he was a priest of this temple. All of the villagers he'd seen so far looked a little dusty, carefree, but this man seemed almost rigid.

"And finally we receive a statue for our temple," the man continued, gesturing the sculpture before them.

Tidus looked up at the stone Lord Braska, wondering what he did that was so great he needed to be immortalised like this. "What's a high summoner?" he asked the priest, tearing his eyes away from the statue's cold stare.

The priest's eyes widened and Tidus heard a few of the women nearby gasp at his words. Suddenly it wasn't the size of the room making him feel small anymore.

"I... I got too close to Sin's, uh, toxin," he said quickly, looking around at the confused faces of the villagers. His words were met with sympathetic nods and sighs, and the priest performed the prayer without delay. There were still uneasy murmurs throughout the temple, though, and Tidus felt every one of them.

_It was funny hearing myself make the same excuse over and over. Funny, and a little sad._

"The summoners are practitioners of a sacred art, sworn to protect the people of Yevon," the priest told him. He nodded his head at the other tall statues. "Only a chosen few become summoners, who call forth entities of great power: the aeons. The aeons hear our prayers and come down to us. They are the blessings of Yevon." Tidus waited, but the priest didn't continue. Instead, he prayed to Lord Braska's statue once more.

_So what he meant... was that we should respect some kinda great men or something like that... I figured._

"Pray hard," the priest said finally, "and the toxin will surely release its grip on you." With that, the old man moved on to another villager.

The temple gave Tidus a bad feeling, and he couldn't bring himself to 'pray' to any of these statues. How was that supposed to help him? With one last gaze around, Tidus left the temple. His stomach was still paining him, and it was about time Wakka made good on his promise.

Outside, the air was fresh and light, and Tidus took a deep breath as he left the dark temple behind him. He walked down to the huts, making a beeline for the one Wakka had pointed at. Much like the other huts, its walls were made of heavy woven fabric, colourful and charming to look at. The only difference that Tidus could really make out was that Wakka's hut had a delicious scent wafting through the open doorway.

With only a moment of hesitation, Tidus poked his head past the cloth door and peered inside. The walls of Wakka's hut were green, brown and white, the colours dancing together in squiggly patterns from ceiling to floor. Just left of the door, there was a little stove top with a few pots of some sort of soup or stew steaming away. Tidus felt his knees weaken as he inhaled the sweet scent of meat and vegetables boiling.

Wakka sat cross-legged in front of a small round table. A few apples and some tropical leaves were scattered atop a red and white tablecloth. Tidus walked over to Wakka eagerly, barely able to suppress his grin.

"Sorry, man," Wakka said, shrugging with a weak smile. "No time for lunch yet."

Tidus' stomach rumbled loudly in protest, which caused Wakka to laugh under his breath. _When will there be time for lunch, huh? _Tidus asked Wakka, though he didn't dare say the words out loud. This man was being very hospitable, and he'd been kind to him so far. Besides, perhaps the food wasn't done cooking yet. He'd waited this long, he could wait a little longer. Probably.

Wakka raised an eyebrow and Tidus realised he's been staring at the islander without speaking. He mumbled an apology, which made Wakka chuckle again. "Take a nap!" he said, gesturing the bed behind him with his thumb. "You look bushed."

After a moment, Tidus recognised the heavy feeling in his limbs and agreed. He thanked Wakka and sat on the bed, untying the laces of his shoes before kicking them off. For a moment, he wondered how long it had been since he'd taken those shoes off at all, but no unpleasant feet smell showed up so he left them off. Finally, Tidus lay back on the bed, stretching his arms and resting his head on his hands as he stared up at the ceiling.

It really wasn't long before he started to drift off. He closed his eyes, and though he heard footsteps approaching, there was no way he could force them open again.

"You could at least go see how they are doing," said a deep husky voice. Tidus recognised it from the temple. It must have been the priest.

"We can't interfere," Wakka replied. "It's a rule."

The voices were fading, and Tidus caught the priest saying, "But, it's been nearly..." before falling completely asleep. Those words still played in Tidus' mind, however, and carried over into his dreams.

Now, Tidus stood on the deck of his houseboat, though the people around were much taller than they were supposed to be. _But, it's been nearly..._

"It's been nearly a day already," said a man wearing a coast guard uniform. He was talking to Tidus' mother.

Over on the dock, Tidus could see a lot of people looking on. Some of them were crying. He didn't recognise any of their faces.

"Perhaps you could go look for us," Tidus' mother suggested to the coast guard. Her voice was trembling. She'd been crying a lot.

"People are searching for him now," the coast guard replied. He nodded once before turning and walking across the gangway to the dock.

In a quiet voice, Tidus' mother spoke to the coast guard's back. "Thank you," she said before she burst into tears once again.

Tidus remembered this day. He was seven years old and his father, Jecht, had gone missing while training. Zanarkand was full of people despairing over their beloved blitzball hero. Some were convinced he'd be found, others weren't so optimistic. At home, his mother was made of tears.

"Who cares whether he comes back or not?" Tidus asked his mother. He was a little surprised at how high pitched his voice was. He looked up into his mother's blue eyes and saw them glisten with tears once again.

"But he might die!" she said, walking towards him. She knelt down before Tidus and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

Tidus felt something dark and heavy inside his chest. "Fine, let him!" he exclaimed.

"Do you..." his mother began. She stopped to take a deep breath, brushing her brown hair out of her face and pushing it behind her ear. "Do you hate him so?"

"Tidus nodded, balling his hands into fists as he thought of Jecht's towering figure.

For a moment, his mother looked like she might cry again. Instead, she swallowed hard and looked Tidus right in the eyes. "If he dies, you'll never be able to tell him how much you hate him."

Those words burned in Tidus' mind long after the dream had faded away.


	10. Chapter 9

AN: So the Cloister of Trials took up an entire chapter. I honestly didn't think that writing the Trials was going to go so long, but I really wanted to end the chapter where I did, and the length of the chapter isn't much different from the other chapters, so it's all good. I definitely think I'll be shortening the next Cloisters, however. I don't need to get into the specifics again, or at least I don't think I do, so this chapter really introduces Tidus into the workings of the temple.

I really hope that this chapter doesn't seem too repetitive, because that part of the game is rather repetitive and it works as a game. I've tried my hardest to represent this part of the game realistically (as realistic as I can be considering the setting) and I hope that I've conveyed it properly. In any case, if this chapter bores you, don't worry. I won't be getting into this much detail in a mini-game atmosphere again (well, not one this monotonous, at least).

I'd like to thank everyone that has favourited and followed the story so far, and everyone who has left feedback. I don't think I can accurately describe how excited I get when I see that someone has left a comment on the story, especially when it's such lovely feedback. I'm really happy that everyone is responding well to this novelisation, and I can't wait to write up the rest of the game for you guys to read. I really want to do my best on this not only for myself, but for you guys. You lovely readers, audience full of champions. You all deserve personalised cupcakes.

Once again, if you're reading this then I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I can't tell you how grateful I am that this has been getting views. I watch the counters like crazy and I'm always so happy when I see that someone has been reading. It's a fantastic feeling. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I hope that you stick around to read the chapters to come. :)

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**9**

It had only been an hour or so since he fell asleep, but when Tidus woke he felt somewhat rejuvenated, even though his stomach was still quite empty. He sat up and turned to ask when lunch would be done, but the hut was empty.

"Wakka?" Tidus asked the walls as he got up. Of course, there was no reply.

So Tidus sat down on the bed again and waited. After a few moments, his stomach rumbled again and he decided to help himself to one of the apples on the table. He shined its red skin with his vest before biting into it. The slightly bitter juice burst inside his mouth and he was sure he'd faint out of delight as he devoured the fruit. Nothing had ever tasted this good, he decided, and it was likely nothing ever would again. He proved himself wrong, however, when he reached for a second apple. He devoured it just as quickly as the first at sat on the bed for a while to let the apples digest.

When Wakka didn't return after half an hour, Tidus began to get worried. He tried to remember the conversation he'd heard before he fell asleep, but all he could think of was the priest's voice. _Aha! The priest was here, so Wakka must be at the temple, _he deduced. Tidus didn't really want to go back to that stuffy, dark building, but something had to be up. Wasn't that what the conversation had been about? Something had gone wrong...

Tidus put his uneasiness aside and left the hut. Outside, the village seemed deserted. This cemented his theory that something was wrong, and he hurried over to the great building. If something bad had happened, then perhaps he could help. It was the least he could do for Wakka.

The song of the temple seemed to call to Tidus as he approached the doors. This time there were even more villagers inside, praying to the stone sculptures that gave them solace. Across the room, Wakka spoke with a priest at the base of the staircase, both men looking slightly disgruntled. As Tidus walked over, the priest noticed him and gave a begrudging sigh.

"Is something wrong?" Tidus asked as he reached them. The priest left to speak with another villager and Wakka nodded his head.

"The summoner hasn't returned from the trial," he said solemnly.

Tidus scrunched up his face a little, not sure what Wakka meant by those words. "Eh?"

Wakka sighed and looked up to the heavy ornate doors at the top of the stairs. "Well, apprentice summoner, really..."

"Ah?"

"There's a room in there called the Cloister of Trials," explained Wakka. "Beyond is where the apprentice summoner prays. If the prayer is heard, the apprentice becomes a fully-fledged summoner, remember?"

Tidus could have kicked himself. He was supposed to be playing up the memory loss. "So someone is in there somewhere and they haven't come back out. Right, I got it," he replied, trying to sound as clueless as he could. It wasn't too hard considering he really didn't have any idea what was going on, but he tried to make it seem more like he'd forgotten than never known.

"A day's already gone by."

"Is it particularly dangerous in there?" Tidus asked.

Wakka's voice was grave. "Sometimes, yes."

"Why don't you go in and help?"

"There's already guardians in there," he said, shaking his head. "Besides, it's forbidden."

_Forbidden to help someone in trouble? _Tidus couldn't see what the problem was. Religion was all rules and regulations and prayers to statues that couldn't help you. Beyond that door was someone who might very well need help. He couldn't just stand around and wait, and he didn't understand how Wakka could. Without a second thought, Tidus pushed past Wakka and climbed the stairs. Behind him, he heard Wakka gasp.

"Hey, but what if somethin' happens?" Tidus asked him, stopping halfway up the staircase. "What if the summoner dies!?"

The priest had returned to Wakka's side, now wearing a scowl that could curdle milk."The precepts must be obeyed!" he proclaimed, raising his hand in a signal to stop.

_Rules, regulations and prayers to statues. _"Like I care!" he yelled at the priest, turning on heel to race up the last of the steps. Other villagers must have heard the conversation, because he could hear their scandalised cries of disapproval as he crossed the platform to the door. Ignoring them, he pushed on the heavy doors, his hands pressing into the intricate engravings as he forced them to open. Then, without so much as a glance back, he walked forwards into the awaiting Cloister of Trials. Behind him, the doors closed themselves with a loud thud.

_Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all._

Tidus looked back at the doors. On this side, they were smooth and without a handle. _It's a one-way deal, I guess, _he thought to himself as he surveyed his surroundings. He stood in a small room with no door or furniture. The stone walls were carved and cracked, reminding him once again of the flooded temple. He wondered just how old this place truly was.

To Tidus' right, a paragraph of strange symbols glowed with a bright white light. He couldn't tell if the words were actually on the wall or hovering just in front of it, but they bathed the whole room in their light. On the wall before him, a glyph that Tidus had never seen before was carved into the wall. It looked almost like a symbolic flower with a decorative cross over the top.

To his surprise, when he approached the glyph, the top part of the cross glowed with an incandescent green light. The glow moved to the right part of the cross, then down to the bottom. It reminded him of a compass, pointing north, east, south, and finally west before coming full circle. The whole glyph glowed then, the dull light pulsing ever so slightly.

Something inside Tidus told him to touch the glyph. Perhaps it was the same voice that told him to eat sand as a child, but it didn't matter. Standing before the glowing glyph, Tidus raised his right hand and placed his palm flat against the stone. With his touch, the light flashed purple and disappeared. There was a scratching sound, and Tidus turned to see that the writing on the right wall had vanished, leaving an etching of this same glyph in its wake. Intrigued, he walked over to it. The glyph glowed with that same green light, and he touched it just as he had the first. This time, when the purple light flashed, the glow stayed green. The north pointing line glowed brighter, whiter, before fading away.

Suddenly, that section of the wall jerked upwards with a loud scraping noise. Tidus jumped back, his nerves balling in his stomach once again. The wall continued to rise, revealing a staircase leading down to another passageway. Swallowing his inhibitions, Tidus climbed down the stairs. In the next room there was another glyph, though this time there was an odd stone ledge in the wall just beneath it. He approached the glyph and touched it, but instead of the flash of purple he expected, those white symbols began to flash before his eyes.

He frowned, puzzled, as he watched the same six symbols appear over and over again. Somehow, the more he looked at them, the more confused he became. Then, almost as if someone flicked a switch in his brain, he knew.

_I have to use a sphere to go further, _he told himself. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he did. This place was a puzzle, nothing more. There was nothing to fear in here. As he accepted this, the symbols disappeared, replaced by another three glowing symbols that moved from the centre of the glyph outwards. The left symbol was just a smaller version of the glyph, identical to the ones in the previous room. When he looked at it, it began to flash at him.

_Glyph spheres will lead me to the Chamber of the Fayth. _He couldn't remember anyone telling him this, but somehow he knew it. Next, the right symbol began to flash. It glowed an iridescent blue and violet, with an intricate pattern repeated in every corner. _And destruction spheres open the way to hidden treasure._

Perhaps the glyphs were telling him these things. It sounded crazy to Tidus, but he couldn't explain how he was learning these things any other way. He'd never been in a place like this before. As he mulled over his knowledge, the top symbol began to pulse with its blue light. It looked like the letter B with strange lines coming off the bottom and a small letter O sitting beside it. He looked at it curiously and somehow knew that Besaid spheres would also be needed to progress.

_This place is so weird, _he thought. For a moment, he wondered if he could leave. He wasn't supposed to be in here anyway. Perhaps if he tried pushing the doors he could force them open, even if they were supposed to open the other way. But there was a summoner in here, a summoner who might be in danger. Something inside Tidus wanted to help the poor man. No one else seemed to want to help, so he had to.

The symbols all moved back to the centre of the glyph, and with one last pulse of light, they disappeared. In a recess in the ledge below, a sphere appeared, glowing the same green as the glyphs had.

_Okay, so this must be a glyph sphere, _he concluded as he picked it up. More white symbols flashed when he removed the sphere, but they faded quickly. Somehow, Tidus could feel the throbbing light of the sphere as he held it in his hand. It wasn't heavy, but it felt like it was alive.

Tidus left the ledge and headed around the corner and down another flight of stairs. Around one last corner there stood a door. The frame was intricately carved, but not nearly as much as the doors. The entire surface of the wood was covered with engravings of those same symbols that had glowed white at the wall.

_Maybe it's some kind of language, _Tidus mused before trying to push the doors open. They didn't budge, much to his disappointment, and he wondered if that was the danger. This whole place was a giant puzzle, so perhaps you were stuck here if you couldn't solve it. He imagined an eternity trapped in here without food, water, or even light. The thought sent a shiver of foreboding through him. Then again, it couldn't be that hard to figure this place out, could it?

Tidus took a step backwards to examine the doors from a distance. He noticed that the etchings on the door formed a circle pattern, and in the centre there was a curved depression just about the same size as the glyph sphere. Hopeful, he carefully placed the sphere in the hole, and with a click the doors swung open. Beyond was another short corridor leading off to his left. Tidus followed the passage around another corner, spotting a sphere-shaped recess in the wall just ahead. Those six white symbols glowed just above it. He made a note of this as he continued around the next corner.

The passage continued even further, but Tidus stopped here. There was what looked like half of a pedestal sticking out of the wall on his right. On his left, three rows of the glowing symbols shone on the wall. Tidus thought of the glyph in the very first room and decided to touch the symbols. The white light pulsed green and the symbols burned away to reveal the glyph emblazoned on the wall in their place. The north-pointing line brightened as the rest of the glyph faded, and the section of the wall grated its way up into the ceiling. Through the opening, there was a small square room lit only by the pulsing blue veins of light that lined the walls, floor and ceiling. In the centre of the back wall was another sphere, this one glowing pale blue.

Tidus took the sphere from its place and all of the lines of light went dim. _This might be a Besaid sphere, _he mused, feeling the sphere shiver in the palm of his hand. Wondering where it belonged, he walked back around the corner to the first sphere socket and placed it inside. It clicked into place as though it belonged, but the wall didn't budge. Instead, those six white symbols flashed across the wall as if to taunt him. He wondered if perhaps that first sphere – the glyph sphere – belonged here, and returned to the doors to retrieve it. He then took the Besaid sphere from the recess and slipped the glyph sphere in its place.

Without further ado, the section of wall rose to reveal another tiny room and another sphere. This sphere glowed a murky purple and, on the wall above the ledge where it sat, the intricate purple and blue emblem faded in and out of sight. _And this is a destruction sphere, _Tidus gathered as he grabbed it from the ledge. The symbol on the wall didn't appear again.

_Okay, so I have two spheres and two places left to put them, _he thought to himself. So far, this was going swimmingly. Unless one of the spheres unleashed a monster into the Cloister, he'd be able to find the summoner in no time. _Well, the Besaid sphere wasn't doing anything special in that room, so perhaps it's supposed to go in the pedestal. _Tidus went around the corner and approached the half-pedestal, confident that this was the right move. Gently, he placed the Besaid sphere into the allocated space and wished himself luck.

To Tidus' surprise, the wall before him didn't shift at all. With a twinkling of white light, it disappeared into the ether, leaving the pedestal whole and revealing yet another extension of the passageway. Beyond, the walls were decorated with dusty banners hanging from ceiling to floor, each adorned with golden embroidery and one of those recurring symbols that popped up around the place. He walked through the passage, gazing around. The passage itself was quite short, ending in a small round room with two pillars and the Besaid symbol decorating the wall in red stone. On the floor there was a small indent that looked to be the same size and shape as the pedestal that now held the Besaid sphere.

_So I've got to push the pedestal over here? _he asked no one as he glanced back. The destruction sphere was still in his hand, and he could see the last sphere recess in the room beyond the pedestal. Deciding to test it before trying anything new, he left the passage to place the sphere. As he pushed the destruction sphere into place, it began to glow brighter than ever. A single line of magenta light spread from the recess and up the wall. Tidus watched as it continued across the ceiling until there was nowhere left for it to go.

Suddenly, from somewhere outside the room, there was a small explosion followed by the familiar sound of stone crashing to the ground. Quickly, Tidus stepped from the room and rushed around that last corner. There was a gaping hole in the wall at the end of the passage. The explosion had been thorough, he noticed no large chunks as the dust settled. Through the new opening was another small room, this one about the size of his closet back in Zanarkand. Sitting on the floor inside was a wooden chest. Tidus squatted beside it and tried to open the lid, but it was no use. Somehow, despite there being no lock, the chest refused to open.

It was strange, but certainly not the strangest thing to happen to him today. Sighing, he left the chest behind and returned to the pedestal. It was apparent now that the only way forward was by moving it to that depression in the floor. Tidus wasn't sure how he was supposed to do that, though. It was made of some sort of grey stone – granite, perhaps – and despite the weird etchings that borrowed the glow of the Besaid sphere, it looked incredibly heavy.

_Here goes nothing. _He stretched his arms before leaning against the pedestal and pushing with his legs. To Tidus' surprise, the pedestal seemed to glide across the smooth tiled floor. Well, grind easily, at least. He kept pushing, slowly making his way to the rounded room. The scraping of stone against stone echoed throughout the silent chambers, but he ignored the sound. Eventually, he moved the pedestal into place. Some piece of machinery in the walls clicked loudly and it began to sink into the floor. Tidus silently hoped that it was supposed to do that, because he had no idea how to stop it.

"Hey."

The familiar voice spooked Tidus, and he span around to see Wakka standing where the wall used to be. His hands were on his hips, though his expression was far from stern.

"What's gotten into you?" he asked as he approached. Tidus felt the corners of his mouth droop and he looked away from the islander. Perhaps Wakka sensed how uncomfortable Tidus felt, or maybe he was mistaking it for guilt, but his voice was calm as he spoke.

"Hey, it's okay. Only summoners, apprentice summoners, and their guardians can enter here," Wakka informed him. He stood beside Tidus and turned to face the passageways. "It's a tradition. Very important."

Tidus cocked his head. "So what about you?" he asked.

"Me?" He crossed his arms and looked forward, smiling. "I'm a guardian."

Tidus remembered the conversation he'd overhead as he was falling asleep and how Wakka had said it was against the rules to interfere. He also remembered Wakka saying that it was forbidden to enter the Cloister, that there were already guardians in here. If Wakka was a guardian, then why hadn't he come through the Cloister of Trials in the first place?

"A guardian?" Tidus asked, looking at Wakka with curiosity. He just shrugged, offering no explanation for his behaviour.

The pedestal had finally stopped descending and a white light spread across the tiles beneath their feet. With a whooshing sound, it vanished, leaving behind a circular platform where the ground had been. Tidus stared at it in wonder, but Wakka didn't seem phased at all. With a jerk, the platform began to move. Tidus braced himself as it started to descend further into the bowels of the temple.

Wakka stood calm and composed as they travelled down through the floor. "Summoners go on a pilgrimage to pray at every temple in Spira," he told Tidus. "Guardians protect them."

_You sure weren't doing a very good job at that, _Tidus thought, still baffled at his behaviour. The platform reached its destination, coming to a halt on the floor below with a loud thud. Wakka stepped forward as Tidus gazed around at the etchings on the walls. It was the same symbol over and over again, one of the six that had appeared repeatedly in the Cloister. A squashed oval at the top, two shapes that somewhat resembled wings at the sides and lines that could represent a body between them.

"The guardians in there now..." Wakka began, looking down the passage before them. "One of them's got a short fuse, and who knows what the other's thinking. Well, now that we've come this far..." he paused, scratched his head and sighed, "might as well go all the way!"

With that, Wakka walked into the dark passage ahead. Tidus followed, not really taking note of his surroundings. The song from the temple, that familiar tune, was coming from somewhere up ahead of them. A solo woman sang the notes in a clear and crisp voice, and it was only now that Tidus realised he hadn't been able to hear the song inside the Cloister of Trials. There was no time to ponder this, however, as the passage began to lighten and they soon emerged into the room at the end.

The torches at the doorway flickered as they walked past. Two figures waited at the base of a carpeted flight of stairs, one a woman, the other a... well, a something. It stood upright on two legs with its arms folded across its broad chest, covered head to toe in cobalt fur. It had a slender tail with a tuft of lighter coloured hair at the end. The tail tensed as Wakka and Tidus approached and it turned its cat-like face to them.

"What are you doing here?" the woman asked as they walked in. Her voice was low and husky, and she glared at Wakka from behind a swooping black fringe of hair. "Didn't think we'd be able to handle it?"

She stood up, her black dress rustling as it adjusted around her legs. Tidus heard a clinking and the sound of stretching leather, and was surprised to see that the front of her skirt was comprised solely of black and grey belts.

"No," Wakka answered, "it's uh... it's just..."

The woman made her way over to them, and Wakka leaned towards Tidus. "See, I told you she gets mad easy," he whispered as she approached.

Tidus glanced over at the blue cat-man once more. Its amber eyes were trained on them, but it did not move or speak. Tidus decided not to worry about it for now. It obviously wasn't dangerous. "Is the summoner all right?" he asked the woman.

She scoffed as she turned her head to Tidus, but her face instantly softened when she looked at him. There was a flicker of recognition in her eyes, quickly replaced by surprise and then annoyance. "Who are you?" she asked, narrowing her cerise eyes as she surveyed his face.

The sound of stone grating against stone filled the air and everyone turned to look at the staircase. At the top of the stairs there was a landing, lit up with torches to reveal a single door. It didn't fill the whole doorway, the door tapering at the bottom to somewhat resemble a leaf, but was decorated with engravings and an intricate bronze symbol as many of the doors were in the temple. It shuddered as they watched it, almost as if it were still deciding whether to open or not. It wasn't too long before it resolved that it should. The door rose into the ceiling, noisily grinding through whatever mechanism lifted it. Both the woman and Wakka walked closer to the stairs, both wearing looks of hope and concern on their faces. Tidus wandered behind the others, watching as the door slowly revealed the figure of a young woman.

There was a light in the room beyond, and it seemed to envelop her as she leaned against the doorway. Her chest was heaving, brown hair sticking to her face as if she'd been running a marathon. She gripped the doorway to steady herself before carefully stepping forward. The singing was louder now, and Tidus realised that it must be coming from inside that room. He wondered what else was in there as the girl stumbled across the landing. She made the first step before losing her balance and falling through the air.

Everyone gasped, and Tidus lunged forward to save her, but he was not quick enough. The blue creature was quick as lightning as it ascended the stairs, catching her in its strong arms. Wakka and the woman let out sighs of relief, still gazing up at the girl.

The creature stroked her hair tenderly as she steadied herself again. With his help, she found her feet and turned to her audience at the base of the stairs. She was weary, it was apparent in the way she held herself as she shook out her hair, but her face shone with pride as she smiled down at them.

"I have done it," she said. "I have become a summoner!"


	11. Chapter 10

AN: This chapter took a little longer than I thought it would and it ended up a little longer than I thought it would. The place where I thought it would end initially didn't feel like a strong enough chapter ending, and so I wrote a little more until it felt like there would be a natural break. The hardest thing about this chapter was writing the moment that Tidus and Yuna meet properly. I've been trying to write Tidus' character as honestly as I can, even giving him the slightly pervy characteristics that the camera angles suggest he has, but I wanted it to be different with Yuna because I imagine it would have been. The dialogue in that first meeting was kind of awkward and forced, as with their next few conversations, and so I tried to emphasise the grace of her character and make that the reason for his stilted responses.

Okay, I should probably let you guys know that I am nearly literally falling asleep at my laptop right now, so if I'm a bit spacy in this note, that's why. Lol. Anywho...

I'd like to thank The Black Widow1 for the fave, follow and review. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Likewise with everyone who has favourited, followed or left a comment/review on the story so far. I'm so thankful for your support and enthusiasm. Even if you haven't done any of these things and you've been following along anyway, thank you. Without readers, I'm just spamming the internet and senselessly infringing copyrights. :P

If you're reading this right now, then I want to thank you from the bottom of my sleepy heart. You are a boss and deserve to find fifty dollars in the street. Now, I'm going to go and have a shower and go to bed because it's stupid o'clock and I really shouldn't be up this late. I hope you enjoy the chapter. :)

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**10**

The guardians helped the girl back through the Cloister of Trials, leaving Tidus feeling awkward as he brought up the rear. The big blue guy managed to open the chest he'd found with the destruction sphere. Inside was a staff that Wakka said would be useful for the summoner's journey. Back at the beginning, the doors that had closed behind Tidus were now wide open, and the girl took a deep breath before leading her guardians out into the main hall.

All of the villagers in the temple crowded around the base of the staircase as the summoner walked out onto the platform. Her purple linen skirt billowed around her legs as she stopped at the top of the stairs and performed the prayer. Below, the nuns and priests spoke in hushed voices as the girl descended the staircase. Tidus had a feeling they were speaking about him. But this girl was a summoner now. No matter what punishment they had in mind for him, it would have to wait.

_Man, was I surprised. And here I was thinking summoners were all old geezers._

Wakka and the other guardians followed the girl, standing behind her as the villagers quietly prayed and congratulated her. Tidus stayed atop the stairs, feeling more like an outsider than he had in a while. After a few quiet words, the priest ushered everyone out of the temple. The summoner and her guardians followed, and Tidus supposed that he should leave as well.

As he passed the priest, the man grunted to get his attention. "Putting your transgression aside for now, let us celebrate the birth of a summoner!" he said, his face still stern though there was excitement in his voice. "Quickly, to the village square! Share in our joy!"

Tidus did as he was told, gladly leaving the temple behind and stepping out into the fresh air. As he walked across the flagstones towards the village, he heard Wakka's voice call out to him.

"Hey, over here!" Wakka stood at the back of a grown of people that had gathered in the centre of the village. When Tidus reached him, Wakka quickly grabbed him around his chest and dragged him further into the crowd.

"What? Ow!" Tidus cried, but Wakka only chuckled as he forced people aside.

"Wait till you see this!" he said excitedly, still holding Tidus.

At this angle, Tidus was forced to stare up at the sky. "I can't see anything!" he grumbled as he struggled out of Wakka's grip. The islander shrugged as he escaped, and Tidus rubbed the side of his head, wearing of Wakka's manhandling already.

Now free, Tidus could see what was going on. The crowd formed a sort of semi-circle around the summoner, giving her plenty of space to stand. She had her back to them, clutching a staff as she stared off into the distance.

"Ready!" Wakka said to her, stepping forward to make sure she heard.

The summoner looked around at the crowd. "Okay," she replied, her voice timid. She turned back and began to take slow steps away from everyone. Tidus wondered what exactly was supposed to happen as he watched her spread her arms, staff in one hand, and hold them above her head. She then brought the staff down and held it against her chest, still facing away from the crowd. _Is this some sort of dance, or...?_

The girl swept her staff back with her right hand and suddenly there was light everywhere. Wisps of green, purple and white light seemed to float upon the air, spinning around her like magic. Tidus gasped as he watched the light form circles on the ground, and one by one a ball of light was shot up through the air and high above the village. He looked up, watching them ascend, and felt the thrill of the unknown as they collided with one another in the sky.

A metallic sound rang out through the air as the lights exploded overhead, and suddenly something was speeding down towards the ground. Tidus squinted, trying to make out what it was, but there was no mistaking it. A monster was falling from the heavens, likely to land right on top of them. He wanted to run, but no one around him moved. They all gasped and murmured to each other, but they stayed perfectly still as the monster plummeted.

As it drew closer, the creature opened its large wings and soared over their heads. With a heavy beat of its wings, it stopped itself from crashing into the crowd, instead gliding over their heads and hovering above the ground in front of the summoner. She faced it, her arms outstretched almost as if they were her own wings. The beast growled at her, tail flicking through the air like that of an annoyed cat, but she stood calmly before it.

Tidus could barely believe his eyes. He stared at the creature, noting its fierce beaked face, the crimson feathers around its head and neck, and the broad wings edged with spines and wondered how the girl could be so brave. He was still fighting the urge to run for his life.

The monster seemed to respect how serene she was and it slowly lowered itself to the ground before her. The earth shook as it landed, and it arched its long neck towards the summoner. She took small steps towards it, reaching out with one hand to stroke the side of its face. The villagers were silent as they watched. Tidus held his breath. The beast leaned into her hand, letting her gently scratch its cheek, and the crowd let out a heavy sigh of relief.

The more the summoner pet the creature, the more relaxed the villagers seemed to be. Tidus was confused, but he soon let himself relax as well. After a few moments, the summoner turned back tot he crowd, beaming as they began to quietly cheer for her. Tidus looked around and saw that some of them had been praying throughout the whole ordeal.

Wakka, who had been quietly watching at Tidus' side, sprang forward as the summoner started to walk towards him. He joined the woman guardian as they fawned over the girl, hugging her and praising her for her bravery. Tidus realised then that this wasn't just a monster. The girl had summoned the beast. She'd swung her staff and called it to meet her. He gazed at her in awe.

Behind her, the beast seemed calm, standing on clawed feet as it watched the summoner and her guardians. Tidus wondered where it had come from, what it thought about being called down here, and remembered what the priest had said earlier that day. _Summoners are people who call forth entities of great power: the aeons. _Blessings of Yevon, he'd called them. Tidus chanced another look at the aeon, still a little nervous. Perhaps there was something to this religion of theirs after all.

_I had never seen anything like it in my life. Sure, it was a little scary, but still... I could feel a strange kind of gentleness from it._

After some time, the aeon decided to leave. It flexed its wings and with one strong motion, it pushed itself up off of the ground and into the air. Slowly, it gained altitude before flying back off into the heavens. Tidus watched as it soared through the sky, disappearing into the clouds.

_I remember... That night, we talked for the first time. I didn't know it then, but after that night, everything changed. For everyone... for me..._

The village hummed with life that evening. As the sun went down, people built a large bonfire in the village square. Everyone crowded around it, parents and children, even the people who worked in the temple had come to join in the revelry. Wakka kept close by Tidus in the beginning, and as the blitzball players returned from the beach, he was quick to gather them and share the good news.

"Let me introduce you to the team," Wakka said to Tidus as the sun went down. He brought the young blitzer before the Aurochs, grinning like a kid with a new toy.

"This guy here wants into the tournament so bad, I let him on the team." He gave Tidus a push forward before resting his arm around his shoulders. The Aurochs, all still wearing their sunny yellow uniforms, seemed pleased with the news. _And let's face it, _Tidus thought to himself, _who wouldn't be after that demonstration I gave them on the beach._

"His memory's a little fuzzy," Wakka reminded them, "so don't mind him if he says anything odd!" With that, he turned to Tidus again. "Come on, say hi," he urged, giving Tidus another shove towards the team.

Tidus scratched his head as he tried to think of something to say. The Aurochs looked happy but expectant, and his thoughts weren't as coherent as he'd have liked. "Uh... Hi, guys," he said meekly.

The Aurochs nodded their heads in greeting, grunting hellos. Tidus remembered his conversation with Wakka as they'd overlooked the village, and suddenly he knew exactly what to say.

"So, what's our goal?" he asked the team.

The blitzers all leaned forward, clenching their fists as they shouted: "To do our best!" Tidus scoffed. He wondered just how he was going to shape these guys into a team in time for the tournament. They all seemed to get along alright, but they didn't seem to have the competitive nature that Tidus was used to.

"Nope, we got a new goal now!" Wakka told them. "Our new goal.. is victory!" He thrust his fist in the air and grinned at his team mates. "To win every match, defeat every opposing team! To bring the Crystal Cup back to our island! That's all we need to do to win! Easy, ya?" Tidus could tell that Wakka enjoyed saying those words.

Slowly, the Aurochs seemed to get it. They murmured the word amongst themselves, but eventually their voices rose in volume and they began to chant in unison. Soon, their enthusiasm was abound in their voices as they cried out into the night. "Victory! Victory! Victory! Victory!"

Wakka laughed as they cheered. "We sure got the boys worked up, huh?"

The team stayed to chat amongst themselves as Wakka ducked back over to the summoner. Tidus watched as he returned to his seat by her side. The girl had cleaned herself up a little since the temple, though she looked just as lovely when she was covered in sweat as she did now. Her pale skin glowed in the light of the fire. The white cotton wrap of her bodice was clean and pressed, and he noticed just how it accentuated the fullness of her figure. Strangely, it was her eyes that really caught his attention. There was something interesting about her eyes, and he gazed at her from across the square.

To Tidus' surprise, the girl looked up from her conversation and directly at him. She smiled as she watched him, and after a moment turned back to her guardians. Tidus felt his stomach twist at the thought of her eyes on him, but perhaps she had only looked because Wakka was talking about the Aurochs' new goal. Perhaps she wasn't looking at Tidus at all, but the men who were excitedly talking about what it would be like to actually win a game.

One of the villagers had brought out an acoustic guitar and was jamming while everyone had fun. All of this was in celebration of the summoner acquiring her first aeon. Tidus spent most of the evening eating with the Aurochs, filling up on barbecued meat and bread as the guys filled in his 'patchy memory' and told him about Spira. One of the questions that Tidus had been burning to ask was about the vaporous lights that came from the monsters he'd defeated. Keepa, an unusually round man for a blitzball player, explained that these were called pyreflies. He told Tidus that they were like the life force of creatures, and that even human souls became pyreflies. Tidus also wanted to ask about the Al Bhed, but Jassu, the defender with extremely blond hair despite his dark skin and eyes, warned him to stay away from the subject.

The team was very welcoming, even with Tidus' incessant questions. Datto, perhaps the palest member of the team, was eager to let Tidus know that he'd hoped he would join the team all along. Jassu was a voice of reason among the Aurochs, reminding them that they hadn't won the tournament yet, but said he didn't blame them for being excited. According to the Aurochs, Tidus was their lucky break, and it felt good being lucky for a change.

There was something about Besaid after dark, something quite breathtaking. Tidus looked up at the sky and felt minuscule as he counted the thousands of stars. They were the same stars he'd observed on Rikku's ship, yet they felt different here. They didn't feel so unnecessary, didn't make him feel so alienated. The air was thick with the sound of crickets and the odd call from a night bird hunting in the jungle, and the fire was constantly crackling, causing sparks and laughter whenever someone fed it more wood. The village was peaceful, and it made Tidus feel a little more welcome than before.

Wakka spent most of the night with the summoner and her other guardians. The cat guy had disappeared sometime after the sun, which made Tidus feel a little uneasy, but he resolved not to worry about it. As the night progressed, the guardian woman in the dark grey dress also left, which prompted Wakka to leave the summoner with the devout and come back to his team members. Tidus was intrigued by the girl, however. He asked Keepa about her, but the man simply told him to go and find out for himself. Now that Wakka was caught up with the Aurochs, Tidus decided he would do just that.

More than half of the villagers had retired to their huts, which Tidus was glad for. He didn't have to push past well-wishers who insisted on praying for his release from Sin's toxin. It was apparent that he still had to face the consequences of breaking the temple rules, however. The older couple that sat with the summoner definitely weren't going to wish him well.

"You heathen!" the old man growled in his papery voice as Tidus approached.

"Stay away from the summoner!" the woman added.

Even the little girl that had been playing with the summoner's hair had something to say. "You're a bad man!" she declared. Tidus didn't feel very welcome at all, and was about to turn back when the summoner stood up to meet him.

"Lady Yuna! Be careful!" the old man warned her. She shook her head as if she were shaking away his words.

"But it was really my fault to begin with," she told him. The old man groaned the way all old men groan when their warnings aren't heeded, and the summoner walked up to Tidus.

He was a little stunned at how gracefully she moved, and her face was beautiful with a peaceful smile as she looked at him. "I'm Yuna," she said in her soft voice. For a moment, Tidus almost forgot to tell her his.

"Thank you so much for your help earlier," she said, bowing her head. Strands of her light brown hair fell in her eyes and he was mesmerised by her hands as she brushed them away.

Suddenly, he realised she'd spoken, and he rushed to find a response. "I'm sorry about that," he said quickly. "Wasn't that... Wasn't I not supposed to..." He sighed heavily. "Guess I... kind of overreacted."

Yuna shook her head, the blue beads threaded in her hair clicking as she moved. "Oh, no. I was... overconfident," she told him.

The air was thick with their silence as Tidus struggled for something to say. He'd never felt this speechless before. "Um, I saw that aeon thing," he began, feeling that praise was a good place to start. "That's amazing!"

Yuna gasped, grinning at him. "Really? Do you think I can become high summoner?"

Tidus remembered the statues in the temple. He couldn't think of a reason why she couldn't become a high summoner. After all, she was already a regular summoner. How much summoning did she need to do to progress? He nodded in response and Yuna's face lit up.

Just as he thought of something new to talk about, the little girl tugged at Yuna's skirt. "Lady Yuna," she said in her sweet little voice, "come play with me some more!"

Yuna crouched down and nodded to the girl before looking back at Tidus. "So, tomorrow, then," she said.

"Tomorrow?"

"We're going on the same boat, aren't we?"

Tidus remembered the Aurochs talking about how they were leaving for the tournament in the morning. He hadn't realised this involved travelling by boat. "Oh, really?" he replied.

"We can talk more," she told him. He gave a small cheer and raised his hand as though expecting a high five. Suddenly, he couldn't remember why he'd done so, and he self-consciously put his hand down.

Yuna chuckled. "You can tell me all about Zanarkand!" She gave Tidus one last smile before turning away and going back to the little girl and the grumpy grown-ups.

_She wants me to tell her about Zanarkand? _Tidus thought as he watched her walk away. He supposed that everybody knew about where he came from – or where he thought he came from, anyway. Well, if Yuna wanted to hear about Zanarkand, he'd be happy to oblige.

Tidus heard heavy footsteps come up behind him, and Wakka's familiar chortle met his ears. "She's cute, ya?" he said, nudging Tidus with his elbow.

_Oh yes she is. _"She's not my type," Tidus lied, opting to keep it cool with Wakka. He might already have his eyes on this girl, and who was he to charm her out from under him?

"Then we're cool," Wakka said. Tidus congratulated himself on picking the right answer.

"Hey, but what if she, like, comes on to me?" he jokingly asked the older blitzer.

There was a protective tone to Wakka's voice. "That's not going to happen," he answered.

_It'll probably happen, _Tidus thought with a smirk. He'd never had trouble getting girls to like him in Zanarkand.

"If you get tired, let me know," Wakka told him before he joined Yuna again. "I had a bed made for you."

Tidus stayed up a while longer to chat with the Aurochs, but after a while even they began to retire. They explained that they should all get a good night's rest as the boat was leaving in the morning. Apparently it would be roughly half a day of travel to get to Kilika Port, wherever that was. So Wakka showed Tidus to his room. Really, it was the back room of the Crusaders Lodge, which doubled as the village inn with several beds lining the walls. Tidus thanked Wakka for the hospitality and sat down, kicking off his shoes before lying back on the bed.

The mattress was a little lumpy, but this was far better than the damp temple floor or the cold deck of the Al Bhed ship, and with a full stomach and dry clothes, Tidus couldn't think of anything better than this. On the bedside table, Tidus noticed a small but thick book. The lamp on the table cast a warm glow around the room, and as he sat up, he read the words 'Al Bhed Dictionary' scrawled on the plain grey cover in black ink.

Tidus thought back to Rikku and remembered the copy that she'd given him. It would be lost in the ocean now, thrown from his hands as he was thrown from the boat. He decided to keep the book, and pushed it under his pillow before trying to get to sleep. After two others walked into the room and claimed beds for themselves, Tidus found himself lying awake and listening to their snoring rather than resting. Eventually, he drifted off into a restless slumber.

In his dreams, Tidus found himself sitting on the pier at the beach, staring out at the endless blue of the ocean. It was soothing, listening to the calm whispering waves. After a little while, Tidus remembered that he was supposed to be catching a boat, but there wasn't one anywhere in sight. He got up and looked further along the dock. Yuna stood at the end, watching the horizon as the sea breeze swept her hair from her fae. Something inside Tidus urged him to approach her. As he ran across the wooden planks, he found himself tiring out faster than ever before. He was panting by the time he reached her.

"Where's the boat?" he asked, leaning on his legs as he struggled to catch his breath.

Yuna's face was troubled. "Everyone will find us if it doesn't come soon," she said.

Tidus didn't wonder why he was running away with Yuna. He didn't even wonder where they were going. "You really sure this is okay?" he asked, remembering her duties as a summoner.

"Would you take me to Zanarkand?" Yuna asked him, carefully watching his reaction.

"Hey!" came a voice from further down the dock. Tidus turned to see Rikku running towards them in her wetsuit. Suddenly, he was running on the spot as if that could help him escape.

"You said you'd go with me!" Rikku exclaimed as she reached them, pointing an accusatory finger at Tidus.

He turned to face her, pulling his best innocent face. "Oh, hey..." he began, but he couldn't think of an excuse. "I, uh..."

Rikku shook her head as he stopped jogging. "I thought Wakka told you not to get any ideas?" she said, jerking her thumb in Yuna's direction.

Yuna looked upset for a moment and turned back to the sea. "He did?" Tidus scratched the back of his head, unsure how to respond.

"Yeah, so you're coming with me!" Rikku added.

Suddenly, like a ton of gravel had just been dropped on top of him, his father's voice rang out over the water. "Hey! Stop dreaming!" Jecht yelled. Tidus flinched at the voice and turned to see Jecht standing on the beach, looking just as he had the day he disappeared. Tanned skin, dark medium-length hair swept back from his face by a red bandanna and the Zanarkand Abes logo tattooed on his muscular chest.

"You, with a woman?" Jecht continued, his voice as harsh as ever. "You can't even catch a ball!"

Tidus was small. He was so, so small, now donning the clothes of his childhood as he ducked his head away from his father's verbal blows. Tears stung in his eyes as he hid his face. He was seven again and he couldn't escape.

"Oh, what's the matter?" teased Jecht. "Gonna cry again?"

He looked up to see that both Yuna and Rikku now stood by Jecht and he couldn't stop the tears from spilling down his face.

"Cry, cry. That's the only thin you're good for!"

Tidus spoke, and though his voice was childlike, it was full of venom. "I hate you."

Jecht cupped his ear with his hand. "Huh?" What'd you say?"

Fear tore through Tidus' chest and he refused to speak again. He was appalled at how stupid he had been. Why did he say that out loud? Why?

Yuna's voice cut through the clamour in his head. "You have to speak loudly," she said, soothing him with that ever-present kindness. Her words seemed to give him strength, and his anger boiled up past his fear.

"I hate you!" he shouted at the visage of his father.

"Eh?" Jecht seemed confused by Tidus' words.

"That's the spirit!" Rikku cheered.

Yuna nodded. "You can do it!" she encouraged.

Though they stood next to his father, they really stood with Tidus, and he wasn't afraid knowing that they were behind him. Clenching his small fists, he glared at Jecht and mustered up all of the animosity that he had.

"I hate you!" Tidus yelled, his anger so great that he shed the dream and sat up in his bed, shouting at the ghost that haunted him.

It took a moment for Tidus to calm down and realise that he'd only been dreaming. His hands hurt from how hard he'd been clenching his fists and he was trembling with adrenaline. He flopped back on the bed, concentrating on the rise and fall of his chest as he stared at the ceiling of the tent.

Eventually, he was calm again, though it seemed he wouldn't be getting back to sleep any time soon. He quietly left his bed and wandered into the first room of the lodge. There were no clocks in here, so he had no idea what time it was, though he couldn't have been asleep all that long. Outside, it was still dark, though the bonfire was still casting its dark orange glow over the village square. Tidus was about to sit at the table when he heard voices coming from outside the tent.

"He's dead, okay? Dead!" came a woman's voice. Curious, he pulled back the cloth door and peered outside.

The village was deserted but for Wakka and Yuna's female guardian. She stood with her arms crossed beneath her bosom, looking up at Wakka with a scowl. Wakka couldn't meet her eyes, and Tidus wasn't sure whether he should be listening, but he couldn't bring himself to stop.

"He does look a lot like Chappu. I was surprised, too, the first time I saw him. But no matter what he looks like, he isn't Chappu," she said scathingly. "You shouldn't have brought him here in the first place."

Tidus winced as he realised that she was probably talking about him. Wakka, still looking at his feet, sighed. "Yeah, but... he needed our help!"

The woman stepped forward. "Excuses again?" she asked incredulously, moving her hands to her hips.

"Yeah, but..." Wakka trailed off. Tidus was a little disappointed that the blitzer wasn't defending himself. It had been incredibly kind of Wakka to bring him to the village.

"That's it," the woman said, shaking her head. "No more. Enough, Wakka!" And with that, she turned and stalked away from the village square, leaving Wakka looking like a scolded child.

Dejectedly, Wakka looked around the village. As his gaze passed over the Crusaders Lodge, Tidus quickly let go of the cloth. It was too late, however, as Wakka was now walking over to the tent. Tidus backed away from the door, unsure of how Wakka would react to the eavesdropping. As he entered the tent, however, he groaned in a way that suggested he didn't mind.

"Scary!" Tidus offered awkwardly, leaning against the counter with his arms folded. Wakka didn't respond, but moved to sit at the table.

"So, who's Chappu?" Tidus asked carefully.

Wakka stopped and sighed. "My little brother, Chappu," he said flatly. "He looked like you."

Tidus felt a little uncomfortable now as Wakka looked at him. "He's dead?" he asked, even though he'd heard their conversation quite clearly. _I look like his dead brother?_

Wakka walked into the back room and sat down on the bed beside Tidus'. "He was with the Crusaders when they fought Sin last year," he began as Tidus sat down, staring at his hands. "He didn't make it. I first heard on the day of the tournament."

Remembering their conversation as they'd walked to the village, Tidus felt the pieces falling into place. "Oh, so that's why." _That's why your head wasn't in the game. Your brother had just died and I made fun of you not being able to concentrate. _Guilt seethed in the back of his mind.

Wakka took a deep breath and looked up. "I became a guardian to fight Sin, ya?"

"Revenge, then?"

"That was the idea," Wakka said, nodding slowly. He looked back at his hands. "I'm more worried about a stupid game now than avenging my brother."

Tidus felt like there was something he needed to say, but he couldn't find the words. He didn't know how to console Wakka, and so he watched the man carefully, extending his sympathies through his gaze.

"Well," Wakka said, looking back up with a weak smile, "after the next tournament, I'll be a guardian full-time." He paused and grimaced. "I know it kinda looks like I'm using you, but I'm not."

Tidus smiled ad shook his head. "Don't worry. I mean, I owe you a lot. You really helped me out, you know? What I mean is..." Tidus stood up and extended his hand to the islander. "Thanks, Wakka."

Wakka began to reach for it before he chuckled. "Stop," he said, grinning as he waved away Tidus' hand, "you're embarrassing me!"

The two laughed a little before Wakka left the lodge. He urged Tidus to get a good night's sleep before left, and Tidus lay down feeling a little lighter than he had before. The thought of Wakka's brother still played on his mind, especially how Wakka had said that he resembled Chappu, but the feeling of camaraderie was stronger than his concerns, and he fell asleep quite easily.


	12. Chapter 11

AN: I'm not sure why, but my chapters seem to be getting longer. I have a document that I type each chapter up in (kind of like a quick edit to fix up any errors in the first draft) and it's set to book-sized pages, and my chapters are usually about nine pages long. This one is ten/eleven, and the one before it was longer as well. Oh well, you guys don't seem to mind reading them so I'm not going to complain about writing them. :P

There are a few interchanges in this chapter that I twisted a little (namely the way Tidus reacts to Kimahri's attack) just so that they made sense in the context of the story, but I feel like I did a good job on this one. I worked the name of two species of monster into the story and had Yuna name her aeon before battle, so I feel a tiny bit accomplished with my tweaking of the original script.

This reminds me of a conversation I had with a reader the other day. There are things in this game that are quite clearly game mechanics, like save points and chests, that I'm not going to include in this novelisation. I'm trying to write the story as honestly as I can while changing it into a novel format, so some things need to be left out of my writing. Having said that, the characters are going to need money for their journey, and I haven't quite figured out how to give them some. Said reader suggested that Tidus find gil in the bellies of monsters so that he can still earn money from battles, but as the fiends fade when they die, I can't justify that as a means of money-making. I was thinking that perhaps the temples collect donations for the pilgrimages of summoners and give them a small allowance when they acquire aeons, but I'm not sure how that would work story-wise.

That's only one of the things I haven't made a decision about concerning the story. There are the in-game affection mechanics, deciding who Tidus speaks with at certain points in the game, which I think I might leave up to chance, but then there are the few decisions that are going to affect the story (such as choosing whether Tidus says that Yuna is his type or not when speaking to Wakka at the bonfire in the previous chapter). Even if they don't affect the story very much, I'm not sure how I'm going to decide. I'm mainly having difficulty choosing between Luzzu and Gatta at Operation Mi'ihen, but I'm not going to say why just in case there are readers that haven't played the game.

If you haven't played the game and you're just reading my novelisation, I really do hope that you're enjoying the story so far. It's long and epic, full of fantastic characters and moments that will really grab your heart, and I promise to do my best to make you feel those moments the way you would if you played the game. I also hope I haven't given away too many things in these notes... Well, there's still plenty of story ahead, even if I have. I'll be more careful from now on, promise.

Now, I'd like to thank Kai-C and Lucine92 for the fave and follow. I really hope you guys enjoy this next chapter. I'd also like to thank The Black Widow1 for talking me through some of the game mechanics. Don't worry, The Black Widow1, there is a reason why he couldn't open the chest in the temple, I hope to give more information about it during the next few temple visits, and I intend to have people call Tidus by name more often as well. :) Thank you everyone who has left me comments and favourited/followed the story so far. I really hope you guys like the way I'm presenting the story, and I hope you stay with me on this journey through FFX. It's probably going to be a bumpy road, but getting to the end is worth it.

If this is the first time you've had a look at my fic, hello! I'm so grateful that you're here and I hope you enjoy the story. If you're starting with this chapter, you should probably go back to the prologue and go from there. Trust me, it's worth it. There are boss battles, and even a line about Tidus eating sand as a kid. Regardless of whether this is your first read or your third, I'm so thankful that you're reading. I hope you find a really cool pair of socks for cheap and get to have toes as toasty as mine. Now, stop wasting your time with my ramblings and read. :)

* * *

**11**

When Tidus awoke, the back room of the lodge was empty. He stretched before putting on his boots and slipping the dictionary into the deep back pocket of his shorts. He wandered into the first room, where the Crusader manning the counter told him that Wakka and the others were waiting outside. Tidus thanked the man and pushed through the doors into the daylight.

The village was quiet this morning, with birds tweeting from their nests and a gentle breeze wafting through the square. Someone had cleaned up the ashes of the previous night's bonfire, and Wakka and the woman guardian stood beside the slightly scorched ground. Tidus walked over to them, yawning surreptitiously.

"Hey! Sleepyhead!" Wakka called cheerfully as he saw Tidus approach. "Something I want to give you."

Tidus noticed then that Wakka was holding a sword. This wasn't just any sword, however. The blade was a deep sky blue and glittered in the light as Wakka handed it to him.

"Whoa! You're giving this... to me?" Tidus asked excitedly, eyes wide as he admired the blade.

"Yeah, use it well!"

Tidus gratefully took the sword from Wakka. It was both lighter and longer than the one Auron had given him in Zanarkand. At the tip of the blade, the metal came back down again into a dangerously sharp point. He wrapped his hands around the leather-bound hilt and held it out in front, blade pointed to the sky. It felt like it was weighted well, and he let it slice down through the air to test it.

"That's the sword you gave Chappu," the woman said to Wakka.

An uneasy guilt began to pool in Tidus' stomach as he looked at the woman. She returned his gaze with pursed lips.

"Well, he never used it," Wakka sullenly replied. The silence that followed was uncomfortable to say the least. Tidus wanted to give the blade back, but the Crusaders had mentioned monsters on the road the day before and there was no way he'd leave the village without protection. Also, he and Wakka had shared a moment the night before, and so what if he looked like Chappu? Wakka was his friend now, and the sword was a gift.

"Where's Yuna?" Wakka finally asked, breaking the tension.

"We're taking the same boat as Yuna, right?" Tidus fastened the sword at his side. "Why do we gotta wait here?"

"Yuna came to this village ten years ago, when the last Calm started," Wakka began.

Tidus scratched his head. "The Calm?"

Wakka just nodded as if that was explanation enough. "Since then, she's been like a little sister to me and Lulu." The blitzer looked at the woman beside him with a smile, and Tidus figured this must be her. "But she had the talent... She became an apprentice. Now, today, she leaves as a summoner."

Lulu's expression had softened as Wakka spoke. "This is our journey..." she said. "We should leave together."

There was a crashing sound, and everyone looked over to the temple to see Yuna picking up a large trunk that had fallen down the temple steps. She heaved the trunk up and stood it beside her, sheepishly looking down the small hill at her guardians.

"You really don't need all that luggage," Lulu called across the square.

Yuna shrugged. "They're not really my things," she called back. "They're gifts for the temples we're to visit."

Wakka sighed. "This isn't a vacation, Yuna," he reminded her, though Tidus could sense a weariness in his words.

"I guess..." Yuna looked at the trunk. "I guess you're right." She left it standing at the temple steps and crossed the village to meet them. There was a bitter taste in Tidus' mouth as he watched her walk, and he couldn't put his finger on what was odd about this scene. It seemed sadder than it needed to be.

"Okay! Off we go!" Wakka said enthusiastically as Yuna reached them. He picked up the blitzball at his feet and turned to lead them out of the village. Tidus followed him, but after a few steps realised that Yuna had fallen behind already. He turned and saw her praying to the village.

After one last long look at the temple, Yuna turned and joined Tidus and her guardians, and together they left the village. The party walked up the path in silence for a while. Tidus felt awkward and wished he knew what to say, but the others seemed perfectly content to keep their thoughts to themselves.

The path was steeper than Tidus remembered, but they made steady progress up. As he began to wonder if the Aurochs were already at the beach, Wakka motioned for them all to stop. He gripped his blitzball and looked around before gesturing that Lulu and Yuna head down the path a little.

"Here comes one now," he told Tidus. Just as he was about to ask what was coming, a large wolf-like creature jumped down onto the path. Its fur, short and tan, showed off its wiry muscles. It snarled at Tidus and bared its teeth, foaming a little at the mouth.

"Hey, why don't ya try out that sword I gave you?" Wakka said, pointing at the beast before them.

Tidus nodded and pulled the sword from his side. The monster growled and rushed at him, but he lifted the sword into the air as it leapt at him, and the blade sliced through the monster like butter. It gave a final yelp as it landed on the ground, and soon pyreflies were pouring from its fading body.

"No problem!" Tidus cried confidently. That beast had been easy compared to the monsters he'd faced recently.

Wakka chuckled. "Not too shabby! You kept up with him pretty well. Might make a good guardian someday."

As Wakka spoke, a bird with a body as round as a blitzball flew overhead. It didn't appear to have a head let alone eyes, just a long, sharp beak attached to its blue body. Tidus ducked out of the way as it swooped at him.

"A flyer!" Wakka exclaimed. "My kind of customer!" He threw his ball at the bird with as much force as he could manage, knocking it clear out of the air. The pyreflies amassed and floated up to the sky, and the bird faded before it even touched the ground.

Wakka gave a quiet cheer as he rushed to pick up his ball. The others joined them again and they continued their way up the path. It wasn't long before they stumbled upon another monster, however. This creature looked like it was made out of blue jelly, and it was slowly oozing its way across the path.

"That..." Wakka said, stopping their procession once more, "looks like trouble."

Tidus scoffed as he watched the blob inch its way across the dirt. "Heh! Watch this!" He darted in, sword drawn, and swung it at the monster's middle. Somehow, his blade bounced off of the jelly creature, and he was startled when a face appeared where he'd struck it. Fiery eyes glared at him as the jelly parted to form a mouth. It grinned at him as it changed direction, slowly creeping towards him.

"Told you," Wakka said as Tidus stepped back away from the monster. "Only magic can beat that thing. If you can't beat 'em down, you gotta use magic of an element they don't like."

Before his trip through the Cloister of Trials, Tidus hadn't even been sure that magic existed. He remembered one of his teachers telling his class about it as a kid, but he'd never seen it practised in real life. It had always seemed like a myth. "Magic? Element?"

"Let's have our black mage show you what I mean." Wakka grabbed Tidus by the wrist and dragged him back a few step. "Lu! You're up!"

Lulu shook her head as she took her place before the monster. "Clueless, aren't you?" she sighed. "Good thing I'm here. Spells of ice work well against fire fiends..." She pulled a strange doll from somewhere in her skirts as she spoke. "And ice fiends are weak against fire magic."

"I get fire and ice, but what about lightning and water?" Tidus asked.

"Lightning and water are opposed, just like fire and ice. This one here is a water fiend, which means..." Holding the doll with her right hand, Lulu lifted her left into the air, then flung it in the direction of the monster.

A bolt of lightning appeared out of nowhere, striking the creature down with a sizzle. Its face sank back into its gelatinous body and it began to lose shape, flattening out as it died. Lulu chuckled at Tidus' surprise, and once again the party continued up the hill. Along the way, Lulu explained that she had studied black magic for years, and could naturally manipulate the elements, though her doll – a creamy-coloured bear of sorts with a tomato red pom-pom dangling above its head, known as a moogle to the children of Zanarkand – helped channel the power. Tidus found that her explanation only confused him more, but she didn't seem too talkative as they reached the ridge.

Besaid Village looked as sleepy as ever from above. Lulu and Yuna walked over to the cliff edge and gazed down at it, their faces solemn as the statues in the temple.

"Take your time," Lulu told Yuna, and they did.

Tidus wasn't sure why they'd stopped. "Let's get going, man!" he said impatiently, but Wakka just shook his head.

"We're gonna wait," he said, giving no further explanation. Eventually, Yuna turned away from the village and walked over to them. "Are you ready?" Wakka asked her.

Yuna nodded as she passed them, wandering over to the rubble that stood in the clearing. Tidus watched as Lulu nodded at Wakka as well, as though there was some secret between them, and then they both joined Yuna at the ruin. There was something going on here, Tidus was sure of that.

"What's going on?" he asked as Wakka walked away. There was no reply. He watched as Wakka kneeled down before the rubble, the remnants of some statue from the machina city of ages before. He began to pray to the statue, head bowed, and Tidus went over to stand beside him.

"It's an ancient custom," Wakka said, sensing that Tidus had questions. "People leaving the island pray here for a safe trip. Chappu didn't pray that day. Said he'd miss his boat." He sighed heavily and as he looked up at the large piece of stone that stood above the twisted iron.

Behind him, Tidus heard Yuna kneel as well, and he looked around to see both she and Lulu were praying. He thought of Chappu, and how this tradition must be important to Wakka, and dutifully went through the motions. _Arms up, bring them around to the front, and hold that imaginary blitzball while you bow your head._

After a few moments, Wakka looked up again. "That should do it!" he said cheerfully as he stood up. Yuna followed suit, and they moved on. Tidus expected them to to go down the path he and Wakka had travelled, but instead they took another, leading down from the promontory and along the mountainside.

The path took them beneath the ruins of a building. Rusted and moss-covered, it leaned against the mountain with familiar-looking pillars holding up the main structure. As they walked along, Tidus spotted a bright blue plaque stuck to the side of one of the support pillars, hidden amongst the foliage. As the others continued on, he stopped to brush aside the leaves, revealing the same sort of strange writing he'd seen on the column at the flooded temple.

_Kilika yht Bikanel  
__zueh yc uha_

Tidus read the words over and over, but 'Kilika' was the only word he recognised. The others were just a jumble of letters, though they sounded familiar when he uttered them. The Al Bhed dictionary was still in his pocket, and he realised that this was probably the Al Bhed language written down. He wanted to pull out the dictionary and figure it out then and there, but the others were already a fair way down the path. He read the words aloud, committing them to memory, and jogged to catch up with Yuna and her guardians.

As he passed underneath the ruins, a deep roar cut through the air, echoing off of the mountain. Tidus stopped and looked up as a hulking blue creature leapt from pillar to pillar before landing on the path in front of him. It shuddered on all fours, cobalt fur glistening with sweat, and Tidus recognised it as Yuna's cat-like guardian. Its muscles rippled as it reared up and roared again. Tidus stepped back nervously as it pulled the spear from its back, snarling at him.

Teeth bared, it dashed forwards, spear pointed at Tidus' chest. Tidus barely managed to evade it, bending backwards as the sharpened metal end stabbed through the air above him. His fist curled around the hilt of his sword and he drew it as the guardian stepped back. Tidus glared at the beast-man, daring it to try that move again. The guardian nimbly bounced forward, though this time Tidus twirled out of reach. His opponent caught him by surprise, however, and leapt into the air. Tidus couldn't get out of the way in time, and it landed spear-down just beside him, grazing his calf with the blade.

Tidus cried out in pain and slashed at the guardian. It blocked with its forearms, catching the blade on its mail guards. It was just about to strike back when Wakka's voice boomed from behind.

"That's enough," he said, arms crossed as he glared at both Tidus and Yuna's rogue guardian. The cat-man was surprisingly calm as it lowered its spear and stood up straight, though its amber eyes were still trained on Tidus. Slowly, it shook its head.

Wakka walked up to them, touching the guardian on the shoulder as he passed. The guardian turned on heel and began walking down the path. Tidus stared blankly as Wakka approached him, bewildered by how casually he was reacting.

"What's with that guy?" Tidus asked, his voice trembling a little as the adrenaline pumped through him. The guardian passed Lulu as it walked, calm as it had been in the temple the day before. It was as if it hadn't attacked him at all.

"Kimahri Ronso, of the Ronso tribe," Lulu informed him. She smirked. "He's learned the fiends' way of fighting."

Tidus felt betrayed by the way she spoke, as if that knowledge excused Kimahri's behaviour. "That's not what I meant!" he replied, brushing the blood from the wound on his calf. It wasn't deep, but it stung, and he wondered if anyone had any bandages. A first aid kit seemed like a good thing to keep on hand in Spira.

"He's another of Yuna's guardians," Wakka explained, pointing out what Tidus had already figured. Still, Tidus was confused as to how this justified attacking him.

Suddenly, Yuna laughed. Everyone looked at her. Her eyes were bright as she giggled. "Sometimes we don't understand him either," she said as she walked up to Tidus. "Kimahri doesn't talk much anyway." Yuna's full lips drew into a smile and suddenly Tidus felt a lot more forgiving.

Wakka nodded, grunting in agreement as Yuna turned to look after her guardian. "But he has protected me since I was a child!" she told Tidus.

_So maybe he was just testing me? _Tidus nodded as though he understood, which made Yuna laugh again, and they picked up where they had left off.

As they continued on to the beach, Tidus thought about the way the Ronso had blocked his attack. Perhaps he should buy a shield at some point, if monsters were really as abundant as they seemed to be around here. Of course, that was assuming they would ever find a shop, and even then he didn't have any money. For now, he'd just have to be thankful that he was quick on his feet.

The walk was certainly eventful, but Tidus still found a moment to listen to the chorus of birds singing from the jungle. Even with the danger, Besaid really was a beautiful island. Up ahead, Tidus could see a waterfall gushing from an opening in the rock face, and the rushing water reminded him of the giant fountains in Zanarkand. Water was such an integral part of his hometown, and this waterfall gave him some comfort that not all things had changed.

A sturdy-looking wooden bridge spanned the chasms in front of the falls, and as the party crossed it, something enormous came into view from around the corner up ahead. Like a giant plucked bird, the monster seemed to fly in slow motion, greyish-brown skin broken up with stripes of purple flesh running along its back and colouring its chest. Beside him, Tidus heard Lulu mutter the word _garuda_.

"A flyer..." Tidus said, getting nervous as the beast got closer. "That's your department, right?" He looked at Wakka expectantly.

The blitzer looked a tad nervous as well, and clutched his ball close to his chest. "True, true. But, uh..." he looked back at Yuna, who was holding the staff they'd found in the temple in her small hands. "Why don't we let our summoner show us what she's made of?"

Yuna looked a little alarmed to hear her name, but she nodded and determination quickly spread across her features. She strode past Lulu and Wakka, clutching her staff tightly as she moved to meet the monster.

"Your first real battle!" Wakka said, pepping her up the same way a coach might talk to an enthusiastic new player. "Let's see some style!"

"Show us what your training has taught you, Yuna!" Lulu added, a note of pride in her voice.

Yuna didn't look back. She swung her staff around her, the pale blue orb atop it glowing as she began to summon her aeon. The colourful magic wind surrounded her, spreading out into circles on the ground before shooting spheres of light into the air to call the aeon. Yuna was steady as the aeon plummeted to the ground, causing the earth to tremble beneath their feet as it touched down. She walked up to it, affectionately scratching under its silver beak as the fiend drew closer.

"Valefor," she said, naming her aeon before it whooshed into the air again.

The garuda was upon them now, its serpentine head lolling about before its hulking body as Valefor swooped forward. The aeon kicked with its purple-plumed legs, striking the garuda in the face with its talons. The monster shook itself before flapping its wings at the aeon, causing a loud boom as a gust of wind hit its target. The aeon was pushed back, and Yuna gasped, but it quickly regained composure to attack again. The air around its body began to shimmer and Valefor pointed the ridges at the top of its wings at the fiend. A ball of fire suddenly engulfed the body of the monster, and it screeched in pain.

"Aeons can use magic to manipulate the elements as well," Lulu told Tidus, holding her moogle doll tight in case she needed to step in.

The aeon took advantage of the garuda's slow recovery, and swooped in to attack it twice more. The beast tried to dart out of the way, but its body was large and sluggish, and it caught each of Valefor's attacks. After a third and a fourth kick, the monster landed on the path with a thud, pyreflies spilling out of its fading corpse.

Valefor cried out triumphantly, sounding somewhat like a trumpet as it announced its victory. Yuna cheered and twirled her staff again, sending the aeon soaring back into the heavens.

There wasn't much time for celebrating, however, as another garuda peeked its head around the corner. Yuna was just about to start summoning again when Wakka stepped in front of her.

"Another of those? No problem! Leave this one to me, ya?" he said, reaching back, ball in hand, as the monster came closer. A wisp of black smoke began to curl around the ball, followed by another, and soon it was covered in a dark cloud.

"Say goodnight, birdie!" Wakka cried as he wound up and threw the ball at the fiend's face. It connected with a loud _thwock _and the cloud left the ball, clinging instead to the monster.

The garuda flew over to Wakka and swung its long neck at him, trying to hit him with its open mouth. Tidus spotted sharp teeth lining the inside of its lips, but the creature missed Wakka entirely. Suddenly, he realised that the garuda couldn't see. The clouds were covering its eyes, making it difficult to even see where Wakka was standing.

Taking advantage of the blinding, Tidus bounced forward and pulled out his sword. He dashed underneath the monster and slashed at its belly. The fiend screeched in pain and tried to kick him, but its talons found only empty air. Wakka threw his blitzball again, knocking it hard in the side of the head. Lulu joined in, casting another thunder spell, and the jagged lightning sizzled as it struck the garuda's back.

It was a strange time to think it, but Tidus decided that it was nice to travel with other people. He stopped the monster from tearing at Lulu with its claws by smacking his sword down on its extended legs, and Wakka distracted it from Tidus with another blow from his ball. Together, they chipped away at the fiend's health, and eventually it collapsed on the ground, pyreflies ascending as it faded from the path.

Yuna had been standing out of harm's way, and joined the party again with a grateful smile spreading across her face. She thanked Wakka, Lulu and Tidus in turn before they moved on. The path continued around the rock face, passing underneath another set of waterfalls as it curved into the island. As they travelled, they ran into another of those blue bird monsters. Wakka identified it as a condor before smashing it out of the air with his blitzball.

The path soon wound around and passed between two cliffs, coming out above the clearing just off of the beach. The party walked carefully down the slope, holding onto the ruins to keep themselves steady as they went. Kimahri stood where the grass turned to sand, seemingly waiting for Yuna to arrive.

_Some guardian, _Tidus thought as he brought up the rear. _He ran off on the person he was supposed to be guarding. _He hopped off of the final piece of the ruin with a flourish while the others joined Kimahri and walked on ahead.

Tidus emerged onto the beach and was surprised to see that some of the villagers had gathered to send them off. Two children were waiting to meet Yuna, giggling as she stopped to smile at them. They told her that they'd miss her, and asked her to come back soon. Yuna didn't reply, but hugged the children and continued to make her way across the sun-bleached sand.

Wakka raced ahead to join the Aurochs who were waiting for him at the dock, but Kimahri and Lulu followed Yuna dutifully as she said her goodbyes to each of the villagers individually.

A woman in a dark coral dress sobbed as Yuna approached her. "I knew this day would come, I knew it," she said through her tears as she handed Yuna a small pouch. Yuna thanked her for the gift and turned to pray with the priest who stood nearby.

Two men who had been waiting by the boat raced down the dock to talk to Yuna. Tidus watched as she greeted them, and was startled when someone tapped him on the shoulder. The priest stood beside him, a sad smile playing on his wrinkled face.

"May blessings of Yevon be with our summoner on her pilgrimage," he said sincerely. "Here, a gift from the temple to sanctify her departure." The priest placed a small silver ring in Tidus' hand.

When Tidus looked up, everyone was following Yuna along the pier. He followed Lulu up to the dock, amused to see that her long skirt was dragging sand up onto the wooden planks.

The boat was docked, gangway already in place. Tidus had never seen a boat like this before. Unlike the ships of Zanarkand, or even the Al Bhed's salvage ship, the boat was built of wood. The deck was long, with a somewhat square bow, and the wide canvas sails were decorated with patters of green, brown and white. It reminded him of boats from story books, and the little boy inside him was getting excited.

Wakka and the Aurochs boarded the boat first, followed by Yuna, Kimahri and Lulu. The villagers stayed on the dock, smiling and waving as Yuna took her place at the side of the boat. Tidus was the last to board, and two burly sailors pulled up the gangway after him. Beneath his feet, the boat began to vibrate as the engines started up. He looked around to see if anyone else was excited, but the Aurochs had already gone below deck and everyone else seemed... sad.

Yuna waved to the children on the dock, a peaceful smile still fixed on her face, but there was something bitter-sweet about the whole affair. _Well, duh, she's lived here for ten years. Come on, Tidus, of course she's sad to go. She grew up here. _Still, it felt like there was something more to the sobs of the woman on the pier, to the stunned look on the faces of the sandy-haired youths who watched Yuna carefully as the boat began to move.

"Lady Yuna! Don't forget me, okay" called the little girl in the red skirt. Yuna chuckled and nodded.

The boat's horn sounded to let everyone know that they were leaving. Suddenly, the little girl stopped laughing and began to cry, as if she'd only just realised that Yuna was going away. She waved again to the children, to the weeping elderly couple who'd sat with her the night before, and she prayed as the boat started to leave the dock.

Her eyes became glassy and Tidus moved closer to her, ready to console her should she cry. But Yuna didn't cry. She just prayed and waved as the boat slowly pulled away. And then, quietly, she spoke.

"Goodbye."

* * *

AN: By request from a reader, I'll be translating the Al Bhed at the bottom of each chapter where Al Bhed is present. Here are the translations for this chapter:

In Al Bhed:

_Kilika yht Bikanel  
__ zueh yc uha_

In English:

_Kilika and Bikanel_  
_join as one_


	13. Chapter 12

AN: I took a little time away from this chapter after I finished writing it. I'm about halfway through the next one because I couldn't stop writing when I reached the end, so the next chapter shouldn't take to long to finish writing, but I might take another break between writing and posting it. Just a few days without thinking about it, that's all. It was nice to not worry about my quick-edit or uploading the chapter and let my creativity focus on something else. I've finally compiled all the poetry I want into a document and I'm looking to get it bound for my grandmother, which is something I've been meaning to do for months.

Don't worry though, lovelies, because taking a breather between writing and uploading a chapter isn't going to turn into me quitting the novelisation. I am still very determined to write that speech at the end of the game, and I'm still looking forward to the epilogue and possible sequel. This is still something that I very much want to do, I just feel like I should give some of my time to my other pursuits as well. :)

This chapter was fun to write, and I finally added that lovely little detail about Yuna's eyes. I've been looking for a place to put it, but Tidus isn't the most observant and he hadn't had a good long look at her face in the light before. I also got to write in O'aka! Hell yeah! Story-Tidus doesn't have any money yet, but he'll have some by the time he boards the S.S. Winno, I assure you.

I'd like to thank those readers that have given me feedback on my story. It's great to hear both praise and criticism, and I really enjoy learning which parts of the story I'm writing strongly and which parts seem a little weak. Also, I've added some Al Bhed translations to the bottom of previous chapters with Al Bhed in them for your convenience. I'm leaving the spoken language untranslated, just a preference, but the signs that Tidus has found so far are all translated now. Tidus still hasn't figured them out, but that's coming later. :)

I'd also like to thank everyone who has followed and favourited the story so far, and especially those who have followed and favourited me. It's such an honour to have people who like what I'm writing, and I hope to continue writing things that you enjoy. And even more important than that, I'd like to thank the people who have only just started reading. Each and every one of you deserves to find, like, a hundred dollars in the gutter and have the best ice-cream in the world (unless you're lactose intolerant, then you can have the best of anything else you like).

Speaking of things you like, I think you should go and enjoy this chapter. :P

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**12**

It had been nearly two hours since the S.S. Liki left Besaid Island, and Tidus was bored. The boat wasn't nearly as fast as he'd hoped, propelled through the water by two large wheels at the back end of the boat. Despite two long hours, Besaid was still a smudge on the horizon. Datto corrected himself when Tidus asked how long it would take to reach Kilika, saying that they'd be there by nightfall instead of lunchtime.

_Fantastic._

After waiting around on deck for a while, Tidus headed below. He knew that a few of the Aurochs were down here somewhere, and perhaps they could entertain him. As he climbed down the stairs, a strange voice cooed from the area beside the staircase.

"Oooh, them's fascinatin' clothes you're wearing!" it said in a foreign accent. Tidus looked around to see a pudgy man in yellow trousers and a blue vest walk out of the shadows. He wore an enormous green pack on his back, and looked slightly off-balance as he stopped to examine Tidus' clothes. He waved the man away.

"Yewh!" the man exclaimed, pulling away from Tidus as though he were venomous. "Filthy, filthy! These won't sell or me name's not O'aka!" The man – O'aka, it would seem – circled Tidus as though he were a bird of prey. "Don't look like you got much money, either. I've no business with ye. Outta me way!"

Tidus was shocked by the man's behaviour. "Who do you think you are?" he asked, frustrated.

The man stopped and placed his hands on his hips. It seemed he'd been waiting for a moment to introduce himself. "O'aka the twenty-third, merchant extraordinaire!" he declared proudly.

"O'aka the who?"

"Don't know me?" O'aka XXIII breathed, surprised. He turned away from Tidus. "Well, not many do, not yet," he admitted.

Tidus watched curiously as O'aka walked back across the room and leaned against the wall. "But someday, the name O'aka will be spoken all over Spira!" he told Tidus. For a moment, O'aka's eyes glazed over as he pictured a future where he was a successful merchant. Tidus rolled his.

"Say, lad, you wouldn't happen to have a bit o' Gil to lend?" he asked suddenly.

Tidus didn't know how to respond. He didn't have any money, and the merchant watched him expectantly.

"I'm sorry, I don't have any money," Tidus said finally.

O'aka scowled. "Eh, it figures." He left Tidus and headed across the room. Luzzu and Gatta stood in front of a door, almost as if they were guarding it, and it seemed that O'aka was going to pester them for money as well.

Tidus shook his head, feeling sorry for the guy, when he heard an odd cry come from the room behind him. Curious, he pushed his way through the doors labelled "Power Room".

He had never seen anything like it. Large yellow birds with long legs and orange beaks ran in metal wheels, turning them at an alarming speed. The birds made _kweh _sounds as they ran, almost as if they were talking to one another.

"Wh-what the heck is that!?" Tidus exclaimed, taken aback by the birds. He couldn't fathom why creatures that were so big would be inside a ship like this.

From around the corner came a young woman in purple and white pants, her hair tied back with a bandanna. "Wh-What the heck is what?" she asked him, amused by his surprise.

Tidus just stared at the nearest bird. "What is this place?"

"The power room, like it says on the door!" she replied, getting slightly annoyed.

"Yeah, but why the big birds?" They all seemed so happy, running even though they would never get anywhere.

The girl raised her eyebrow. "What's so strange about chocobo power?"

"Chocobos?" He'd heard of the animal before, but he'd never seen one in real life. Come to think of it, he couldn't remember seeing one in a book or on a sphere either. "Those are chocobos?"

"What? You've never seen a chocobo?" The girl scoffed as she turned around. "What kind of backwater island did you come from, anyway?" she said as she walked back around the corner to attend her duties.

_Miracles and oddities were starting to become daily routine on this trip._

Tidus left the power room, still surprised, and decided that he needed to find someone to talk about the chocobos with. O'aka refused to speak with him, making a loud _hmph _as he approached, so he turned to the Crusaders at the end of the room.

"Hey, guys," he called as he walked over to them. "Did you know that the boat is powered by chocobos?"

Gatta's eyes widened, but Luzzu shook his head. Tidus could tell by the look on Gatta's face that he wanted to rant about the toxin and how it was affecting Tidus' memory, but Luzzu was more patient, and Tidus was thankful for that. He supposed that chocobos were one of those things that he'd have to let slide.

"So, what are you guys doing here?" Tidus asked.

"We're guarding this door," Gatta barked. "Our operation depends on this cargo!"

"Your operation?"

Luzzu shook his head. "I'm not at liberty to talk about our plan." He looked around the corridor before continuing. "If people think you're with us, you'll be excommunicated, too!" he whispered. "Some things you're better off not knowing. Take it from me."

"Why don't you go topside?" Gatta suggested. "The fresh sea breeze might help restore your memory!" Tidus grimaced at the babyish tone in his voice.

The Crusaders refused to speak after that, which bothered Tidus. What did Luzzu mean by 'excommunicated'? Were they banned from the temple or something? Tidus left the Crusaders and O'aka to their own devices, deciding that it wasn't worth wasting his time below deck.

Still, there was the boredom to deal with. Tidus wished that he could look out past the horizon, get a look at this Kilika Island. A guy on deck had a pair of binoculars, but he didn't seem to want to share. After much pestering, he agreed to lend them to him. He said that he'd be another five minutes, and Tidus resigned to waiting. Twenty minutes passed and he still didn't have the binoculars. Thinking it was time to get creative, Tidus hatched a plan to acquire them.

He ran up behind the guy and leapt onto his shoulders. The man yelped in surprise, still looking through the binoculars as Tidus' face hung down to meet his. There was a small struggle as he tried to shake Tidus off, but his hands were planted firmly on the man's shoulders. To avoid an elbow in the biceps, Tidus pushed himself up with his arms, doing a handstand on the guy's shoulders before flipping onto the wale. He crouched down, making sure he was balanced and wouldn't fall into the sea, and then quickly crept along the side of the boat to snatch the binoculars from the man's face.

He was triumphant, and despite the guy protesting, Tidus stood up and looked through them. Apart from Besaid, the small island looking even tinier from this far away, there was nothing in sight. He didn't give up, though, and turned to the boat to find something to look at. Through the binoculars, he swept his gaze across the deck until he found the intricately woven belt-skirt of Lulu's dress. Slowly, he moved the binoculars up, passing the lace details on her sleeves, up the corset bodice to the fur trip at the top of the dress and the purple beads she wore around her neck. He stopped to look at her chest for a moment, but Lulu was no fool, and her stern face snapped in his direction. He quickly lifted the binoculars to seem innocent, and spied Yuna walking along the other side of the deck.

Yuna had been below deck for most of the trip so far, and Tidus wondered if perhaps she was feeling sick. Not everyone took to travel well. She didn't look sick as she walked past, though; the white and rose sleeves she wore trailing as she hurried along the starboard side of the ship, and Kimahri close behind her.

Tidus wanted to talk to her, but Kimahri was still unsettling to him. There still hadn't been an explanation for his attack earlier this morning. Kimahri was silent and fierce in his tribal clothes and blue fur. But still... He wouldn't try anything with all these people around, would he? Tidus lowered the binoculars for a moment, counting the people on deck. There would be a lot of witnesses should Kimahri try anything.

Pleased, Tidus looked through the binoculars again. Yuna gazed up at the sky as she walked, flipping her brown hair over her shoulder. Tidus smiled, moving the binoculars a little faster than she walked. Suddenly, she was in frame again, and looking straight at him. She grinned and waved, and Tidus dropped the binoculars in surprise.

The owner fumbled to catch them as Tidus waved back at the summoner, grumbling about impatience and disrespect. Yuna walked on to the prow of the ship as the guy stood up, glaring at Tidus. He laughed nervously as the man scowled, then jumped clear over the guy. He landed lightly on the deck and looked over to where Yuna had been standing. It seemed like everyone on deck had followed her, and they now crowded around her as if she were a famous songstress on the street. Puzzled, Tidus moved to join the crowd.

As he approached, Tidus overheard part of the conversation between two men in the crowd. "Word is that summoner's got noble blood!" said a sailor.

"I heard she's Lord Braska's daughter!" his friend replied excitedly.

"Ya don't say?"

Tidus frowned. "Lord Braska's... daughter?" The sailor confirmed it with a grunt. The name rang familiar in Tidus' ears. Wasn't Lord Braska one of the statues in the Besaid temple? He looked around the deck, spotting his trusty Wakka standing by the cabin. He walked over, hoping that the blitzer could shed some light on this new information.

Wakka had his own agenda, however. "Come to think of it, I haven't told you where we're going!"

_But your team has, _Tidus thought, however he didn't stop Wakka from telling him again.

"First to Kilika Island, then we change boats and head for Luca. 'Fore that, though, Yuna's gotta pray at the temple. I'll be guarding," he added proudly. "We'll be praying for the Auroch's victory, too, so you come along, ya?"

Lulu sighed loudly, causing both Tidus and Wakka to look at her. "Great plan," she said dryly, ignoring their gaze.

"Hey, it is a great plan!" Wakka said defensively. He looked at Tidus, as though expecting him to help defend the idea.

"Don't look at me!" said Tidus, waving his hands in front of him. "So, is Yuna's father famous or something?" he asked Wakka, changing the subject.

Wakka looked over at the crowd. "She's the daughter of High Summoner Braska! You saw his statue at the temple. Lord Braska defeated Sin ten years ago. Yuna's the heir to a great legacy!"

Legacy was a dirty word to Tidus. He remembered how people had treated him when he first joined the Abes. Jecht's son had come to bring the Abes back to glory. He was full of his father's talent, not his own. Bile began to rise in Tidus' throat, so he pushed the thoughts away.

"It's tough when your father's famous," he said absent-mindedly. Wakka uttered a sound of confusion and Lulu's chuckle interrupted the conversation.

"Wakka's... a bit lacking in the imagination department," she said, smirking.

Wakka seemed taken aback by her words, and Tidus laughed. "Thanks, Lulu, I'll keep that in mind," he replied.

Though he'd just been insulted, Wakka was as cheerful as ever. "Oh yeah, you talk to Yuna yet?" he asked Tidus. "She had some questions for you." Tidus looked over at Yuna. The crowd had dispersed and she stood alone at the prow of the ship, gazing out at the ocean.

"I don't know who you are or where you come from," Lulu began as Tidus started to make his way over to the summoner, "but if you interfere with Yuna's pilgrimage, we won't take it lightly."

Tidus nodded as she walked away towards the back of the ship. He slowly made his own way across the deck, though Lulu's warning made him nervous. What exactly did Yuna want to talk about? As he passed them, the sailors he'd overheard earlier began speaking about Yuna again.

"Lord Braska's daughter?" the gruff one said. "She might just have a chance!"

"We'll get her to Kilika, we will!" his friend declared.

Tidus could feel himself getting agitated by their words, and decided to set them straight. "She does have a name, you know..." he told them, making an effort to keep his voice calm. "Yuna."

"Hmm? Lady Yuna?" The man spoke as if he'd never considered her name before. "Well then, we pray for Lady Yuna's safe passage!" His friend grinned and they looked over at Yuna before performing the prayer. Tidus rolled his eyes and turned away. At least they were using her name now.

Across the deck, Kimahri was keeping a close eye on Yuna. As Tidus walked between the training Aurochs, dodging a ball the ricocheted off of Datto's head, the Ronso's attention turned to him. Those feline eyes made his skin crawl, and coupled with Lulu's words, he wasn't sure whether speaking to Yuna was such a good idea. But there she stood, her skirt billowing around her black boots as she watched the sea. Carefully, he climbed the few steps to the prow of the ship.

Yuna turned as he approached. She smiled and moved aside, bidding him to stand beside her. Tidus joined her at the rope fence, stretching noisily before leaning forward on the taut rope. For a moment, an awkward silence filled the space between them, made so much more potent by the sound of the waves below.

"The wind..." Yuna said, breaking the silence, "it's nice."

Tidus nodded in agreement, watching the horizon, searching for something to say. He started to chuckle nervously, which made him feel embarrassed and caused him to laugh more. He looked up at Yuna, who was blushing a terrific shade of pink as she joined in the laughter. Her giggle was quiet and unobtrusive, which amused Tidus even more.

Somehow, laughing eased the tension between them. As their laughter petered out, Yuna seemed to relax and find confidence in her words. "You're a blitzball player, aren't you?" she asked him, finally getting to her point. "From Zanarkand, right?"

"You hear that from Wakka?" Tidus asked her. She nodded politely. He imagined that a lot of Besaid knew about his claims now, and sighed as he remembered Wakka's reaction. "Wakka... Wakka doesn't believe me at all." He turned and rested his bottom on the rope.

Yuna backed up a few paces, holding her hands behind her back as she shyly looked at him. "But I believe you!" she said quietly, a coy smile spreading across her face.

Tidus watched her carefully, looking for a sign that she was messing with him, but her gaze was sincere. "I've heard, in Zanarkand... there is a great stadium, all lit up even at night!"

_How does she know that?_

"Great blitzball tournaments are held there, and the stands are always full!" she said, clapping her hands together in delight.

Tidus jumped up from the railing and stood right in front of Yuna. "How do you know that?" he asked her, urgency colouring his voice.

"A man named Jecht told me," she answered calmly. "He was my father's guardian."

The name echoed through his body. Inside, he scowled at the coincidence. He turned away from her, spat the name as if it was a bad taste in his mouth and stared back out at the ocean. "My father... his name is Jecht!" he told her flatly.

Yuna gasped. "Amazing!" she exclaimed as she hurried to his side. She peered over the rope to see his face. "You know, our meeting like this must be the blessing of Yevon!"

She was so earnest in her belief, and her heart-shaped face beamed as she looked at him. The thought of Jecht in Spira was too wild to entertain, though. If Sin had been to Zanarkand before, Tidus was sure that he'd have noticed.

"Sounds like him, but it can't be him," he said, looking away.

"Why not?"

"My old man, he died," Tidus told her. "Ten years ago, off the coast of Zanarkand."

He felt Yuna turn away from him, and wondered what she was thinking. Tidus was long past the days when he appreciated sympathies, but he could understand if she didn't know what to say. Nobody had ever known what to say to him, and often ended up saying the wrong thing as a result.

"I'm sorry," she offered quietly.

"He went out to sea for training one day... and never came back," he continued. His stomach churned a little as he remembered the stunned look on his mother's face when they told her they were stopping the search. He sighed and pushed himself away from the rope. "And no one's seen him since then."

Yuna span around to face him, her eyes bright. "Why, that's the day that Jecht came to Spira," she said. Tidus opened his mouth to protest, but she stepped closer. "It's true! I first met Jecht ten years and three months ago!"

_She's been counting? _Tidus frowned. There was no way that Jecht could have come to Spira, but Yuna's certainty was hard to ignore.

"I remember, that was the day my father left." She paused, looking up at him expectantly. "The date fits, doesn't it?"

The sick feeling in his stomach refused to go away. He wanted nothing more than to change the subject, but Yuna seemed to believe in this connection between them. It was a bit absurd, really, but she _was _right. The tournament he was going to win with the Abes was held every year in remembrance of her father, a couple of months after the day he went missing. The date did fit.

He tried to laugh it off, shaking his head. "Yeah, but how would he get here?" he said, unable to keep her gaze. He sincerely hoped that she didn't have an answer.

"You're here, are you not?"

Tidus looked at her. With her quiet smile, the breeze shifting her brown hair to frame her face, he almost didn't want to protest. Her soft expression seemed to radiate tranquillity, and he could use some of that right now. Yuna giggled as he looked at her, cheeks flushing a delicate pink as she nodded at him. Finally, he realised what it was about her eyes that intrigued him so. They were different colours, one green and one blue, almost as if her body hadn't decided which shade of the ocean it wanted to replicate. Reluctantly, he smiled at her.

Just then, the deck jerked beneath their feet. Yuna cried out as she lost her balance, and Tidus was too slow to save her from falling. The deck tipped up on one side and Tidus braced himself as he grabbed her by the hand. She clasped her slender fingers around his wrist and held on tight as the port side of the boat continued to tip up. Tidus looked up to see that the other passengers were clinging on to different parts of the ship, a shared look of terror on their faces.

As suddenly as it tipped up, the boat righted itself, crashing back down onto the water. The sea wasn't calm anymore, now seething as though a great storm had descended upon them. The sky, however, was clear. This didn't stop the waves from growing and bearing down on the ship, angry and unforgiving. Tidus tightened his grip on Yuna as the boat crashed through the choppy ocean, holding onto the taut rope with his other hand and praying that it was enough.

The starboard side began to tip up and Yuna slid across the deck again, but Tidus held fast. He had to turn around to keep from dislocating his shoulder, but there was no way he was letting the girl go. Gravity had a different idea, and pulled at her with more strength than he could muster. Yuna's fingers began to slip from his and she screamed as she tumbled down the deck. Tidus cried out as he watched her crash into a mounted harpoon gun on the side of the boat. Luckily, the harpoon was pointed away, and she held fast to the machinery, her mismatched eyes wide and full of fear. Tidus swore under his breath.

From the place he'd been watching Yuna, Kimahri leapt up onto the prow, balancing like only the feline could. He hopped along the deck, reaching his strong arms to cradle Yuna as they both held onto the harpoon gun for dear life. Tidus felt so helpless as he watched, but the boat levelled out once again, giving him a moment to try and make his way to them.

Not far from the ship, a truly gargantuan beast burst out of the ocean. The boat was tossed around again, the water aggravated even worse as this monstrosity towered above them. Tidus gasped as he looked up at the alien creature. How could anything possibly be that big?

Someone on deck snapped out of their fear-induced daze, though only enough to elicit a terrified cry. "Sin!"


	14. Chapter 13

AN: I feel like this chapter is a little short, but it seemed like a natural place to end so I did. Last time I didn't end where I felt like I should, I had to split the chapter in half because I was silly and should have stopped. Lol. But anyways... Sin is baaad. I rather enjoyed writing the second half of this chapter, even though I felt bad about the scenes I was writing. I'm not entirely confident that I gave an accurate description of the destruction featured in this chapter, but no matter how much I read it, it's never going to seem like enough because I've played the game and can't read it from a different perspective.

Now, I'd like to thank xoxteenwolfxox and Nuvola9 for being the latest to follow (and favourite) the story. I welcome you to my long and usually pointless author's note, and I hope you enjoy this latest chapter. That goes out to everyone who's previously followed or favourited, and even those who like reading without the commitment. You guys are all absolutely fantastic and I really hope that you've enjoyed the journey so far. We're only at the beginning, and there's still a fair way to go, so I hope you're ready.

If you're reading this, you are a beautiful human being and you deserve to be happy each and every day of your life (don't tell non-readers this, but I think the same about them). I hope you enjoy this chapter, as I've certainly enjoyed writing it. :)

P.S. Since the second chapter (I think) I've been thinking about giving the chapters names. I remember leaving my choice for chapter name in the author's note, but I've been neglecting to do so lately. So far, my list is this:

1. Otherworld  
2. We Called It 'Sin'  
3. Out of the Frying Pan  
4. The Freezer  
5. Put to Work  
6. A Thousand Years  
7. Washed Up  
8. Besaid  
9. The Cloister of Trials  
10. A Summoner is Born  
11. Leaving Besaid  
12. Aboard the S.S. Liki

and finally, this chapter would be called 'Trouble on the High Seas'. I feel like I'm doing pretty good at naming the chapters so far, although it could be because a lot of the names are taken from corresponding cutscenes, but I'm not sure whether I'll be able to keep it up, so I'm not making it a permanent fixture on this upload just yet. It's likely I will if I can keep with this winning streak for the next few chapters. Also, if I can be bothered when we come to that point. Lol. But anyways, stop wasting your time reading my babble and go enjoy the chapter. :)

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**13**

Sin swam by the boat, almost blocking out the sun as it passed. Somehow, the ocean had stilled a little, and the passengers cried out in panic as they clung to the boat. Tidus heard one of the Aurochs scream that Sin is the end. He remembered the chaos and the fear that had consumed his destroyed Zanarkand and agreed.

One of the sailors had made his way across the deck and shoved Kimahri and Yuna out of the way. He grabbed the harpoon gun and turned it, aiming it at Sin.

Wakka, who was standing on deck with an almost petrified Lulu, was enraged by this. "What do you think you're doing?" he yelled. "Stick a harpoon in it and we'll all get dragged under!"

_W__e're going under anyway, aren't we? _said Tidus' fear as it welled up inside of him, spreading through each of his limbs one at a time. He could feel his body beginning to tremble.

"Sin is going for Kilika! We gotta distract it!" cried another sailor. On the other side of the prow, he was setting up another harpoon to be fired.

The sailor at Yuna's feet was shaking. "Our families are in Kilika," he begged. "Forgive us, Lady Summoner!"

Tidus looked up at Yuna. The fear that had stolen her face was wearing away, and she gave a single nod to the sailors. With her blessing, the man fixed the aim on the harpoon. Sin had since sunk back into the water, though a single fin still towered above the waves.

"Wait!" Wakka cried out as he and Lulu raced over, but there was no stopping them. Both sailors lined up their shots. "Oh, boy..." Wakka exclaimed, and the sailors fired.

The two harpoons sped through the air, rope tails flitting behind them as they honed in on their target. One fell short, splashing into the ocean while the other hit. It buried itself into the armoured skin of the flipper and held fast. The rope connecting it to the boat strained, and suddenly they were being dragged by Sin.

The boat crashed through the waves, sending everyone topping over the deck as Sin reacted to the thorn in its side. Tidus was thrown against the wale of the ship and clambered to his feet, holding on tight. The ocean, full of Sin's anger, tossed the boat like a salad.

Suddenly, Sin stopped flailing and started speeding. The boat steadied a little as Sin picked a direction and gunned it. Tidus was about to scream at the sailors to cut the rope when he heard a loud thud on the deck behind him. He turned around to see a scale embedded in the deck. He thought of the high-bridge, of fighting alongside Auron, and fury pushed through his fear.

The scale's legs broke through and it pushed itself out of the shallow hole in the wooden floor, peeling its wings and glaring at him with a dozen purple eyes. Tidus grabbed the sword Wakka had given him and smashed the blade into its face without a second thought. Just as the multitude of others had, the scale perished in a cloud of pyreflies.

Tidus heard Keepa cry out as another scale smashed into the ground in front of him. He turned and saw two more chasing the sailors across the deck.

On the other side of the boat, Kimahri was dispatching scales left and right. Lulu and Yuna, still struggling to cross the unsteady deck, ushered both the passengers and the sailors to take refuge below deck.

Tidus sliced up another scale, rushing through the technicolour vapours to join Wakka and Kimahri at the front of the boat. Just as it seemed the deck was clear, another volley of scales came crashing down.

"How many of these things are there!?" Tidus cried as he slashed at another scale. Kimahri shrugged, plunging the tip of his spear through the face of an enemy.

Between the three of them, they killed over a dozen scales before they realised they wouldn't stop. Waves and waves of monsters would just keep falling from Sin's colossal fin, and there was nothing they could do about it.

"We need to knock out that harpoon!" Wakka yelled to them as he smashed his blitzball into a scale. He looked up at Sin's fin, calculating whether he'd be able to reach it with his ball or not. The boat crashed through another set of extremely large waves, and Tidus had an idea. He raced up to the harpoon gun and started sawing his sword against the rope. Sin was still dragging them through the water at an alarming speed, but if he could just cut the rope then they should be safe.

The rope frayed and finally severed, setting the boat free. Sin began to speed off, lifting its gargantuan tail up and out of the water, only to crash down into the water once again. The ocean surged once more, tipping the ship as it shuddered and lost momentum. Tidus lost his balance, toppling over the rope barrier on the prow. As he scrambled for something to hold onto, his head cracked hard on the side of the boat, knocking him out. Unconscious, he splashed into the still-churning water and began to sink.

...

There was no telling how long Tidus was out, but consciousness did come back to him. A pleasant tingling spread through his limbs, and it felt as if he were floating in the air. Slowly, he opened his eyes. He was indeed floating, though beneath the ocean rather than among the clouds. Wakka's concerned face hovered over his.

He rubbed the back of his head as he began to tread water, thankful that he'd taken a breath before being submerged. He gave Wakka a thumbs up and they began to head for the surface.

Their ascent was going to have to wait, however. Wakka grabbed Tidus by the collar and pulled him out of the way as one of Sin's scales zipped through the water. He nervously turned his head, expecting to see Sin's hulking body pushing through the water to exact its revenge on the ship.

It wasn't Sin that was bearing down on them, but Tidus didn't feel any relief. Instead, he gripped his sword tightly as he watched two dolphins fleeing from a monster. It was a mess of tentacles, four attacked to the bulbous blue body, then another four dangling from beneath, followed by one long, thick tentacle that Tidus assumed was a tail. As far as he could tell, the creature had no face, though the dark blue and orange coral-like mass atop its body could have been a head. In the end, it didn't matter what the creature looked like, because it had caught their scent and was quickly catching up to them.

Wakka threw his blitzball at the creature's head. The blinding black cloud that clung to the ball transferred to the monster's 'face'. It extended its two front tentacles to slap Wakka's face, but missed him and flailed blindly. Happy that he hadn't lost his sword again, Tidus swam up to the creature and slashed at its tentacles, deftly dodging its retaliation.

He didn't notice the scales that were swimming to its side. Wings unopened, they cut through the water like bullets, chasing after Tidus as he returned to Wakka's side. He didn't have enough time to avoid them, and the jagged edges of the scales sliced into his sides. He twisted in agony as they sped away, almost losing grip of his sword. The pain throbbed, and a cloud of blood coloured the water as Tidus' vision darkened.

Wakka, who'd been busy attacking the tentacle monster, swam quickly back to Tidus. Stuffing his ball under his arm, he produced a small vial of red liquid from his deep pocket. He took out the stopper it and closed the top with his thumb, then placed it over Tidus' mouth. Grateful, Tidus drank the potion, and almost instantly he felt his wounds knitting together.

The monster before them still couldn't see, and swiped at the area in front of it as though it were searching for them. Feeling renewed, Tidus swam through the water and slashed his sword at the creature's malformed body. Its tentacles tensed with each hit, and it shuddered in pain as he hacked at its body.

Tidus felt safe as he attacked the blinded monster, but he didn't count on the spell wearing off. Slowly, as he and Wakka worked the offence, the dark cloud over the monster's face began to fade.

All of a sudden, the beast drew back, tilting its body so that its tentacles faced its opponents. The smaller tentacles began to spin clockwise, whirling around while the larger set started spinning in the opposite direction. Tidus felt the water churning around them, forcing him in circles as he tried to swim clear of the attack. He began to feel dizzy, as though he were caught in a blender, and closed his eyes against the rising bile.

The water began to still again, and Tidus looked to see Wakka throwing another dark ball at the monster's face. The spell transferred once more, and Wakka continued his attack, looking a little greener than before.

The creature seemed weaker now, like it had expended a lot of energy trying to mess them up. Tidus swam in to swiped his blade at a tentacle that was getting dangerously close to Wakka's ankle. His blade connected with the soft flesh of the monster and it began to flail about in a last ditch effort to kill its attackers. They did not relent, despite the whipping tentacles, and with one last smash of blitzball against coral helm, the monster shook with a powerful explosion of pyreflies and faded from the water.

Wakka was at Tidus' side immediately, gesturing that they swim for the surface. Tidus had lost a fair bit of air when the scales attacked him, and could feel his lungs starting to ache. He nodded and they both kicked for the surface, breaking out of the water with a splash and a gasp.

"You okay?" Wakka asked, panting as he gulped down air.

Tidus saw the concern on Wakka's smooth face and realised that the blitzer had risked his own life to save him. He felt humbled by the worry in Wakka's eyes, and smiled weakly as he answered. "Much better now. Thank you, Wakka."

Wakka nodded, chancing a quick smile. "Don't worry about it."

There was a rope ladder hanging from the side of the boat, and Wakka insisted that Tidus climb up first. The boat was still in the water, wheels halted, and Tidus easily scaled the wet rope. When he reached the top, he clambered over the side and reached back down to give Wakka a hand. The islander took it gratefully and Tidus pulled him up onto the deck.

The other passengers had begun to cautiously creep out from below deck. Yuna hurried across the deck to make sure that Wakka and Tidus were okay, but there was something in her eyes that suggested she wasn't worried about them.

Wakka nodded at Yuna, assuring her that they were alright, and then looked over to Kimahri. The Ronso stood on the other side of the deck, arms crossed as he watched them. "Which way did Sin go?" Wakka called to him.

Kimahri didn't speak, but turned his head to the ocean ahead of the boat. Tidus followed his gaze, and saw a tiny island on the horizon. Before it, he was sure he could see the ocean raging.

"Kilika," Wakka murmured as he fell to his knees.

...

The late afternoon sun shone down on Kilika Island, casting long shadows across the boardwalks of the port. Today had been a lazy day, and many of the villagers were inside their huts, preparing for the evening meal or relaxing as they enjoyed the cool breeze.

Kilika was usually much busier, but it was a quiet time of day. The only sound was the gentle lapping of the calm ocean and the call of gulls. The village was built out from the beach, the huts supported by thick wooden piles and connected by a series of docks and walkways that bridged over the ocean.

It was a lazy day, and nobody noticed the sea beginning to swell to the sky.

A mother sat in the sun, cradling her baby as she watched her son and daughter play. They kicked a blitzball around the wooden platform, laughing together as they talked about becoming real blitzers one day. Their mother smiled as she watched, soothing the infant in her arms with a slow rocking motion. She may have hummed a little, and her baby may have smiled up at her. Later, she might have called her children in and taken them home, served them their dinner and tucked them into bed. She might have wished them sweet dreams, and encouraged them to follow them. She could have done all of these things were it not for the looming ocean.

There's no telling what came first, the rumble of the coming destruction or the rising dome of water blocking out the afternoon sun. The son noticed first, dropping his ball as he alerted his mother. Still cradling her baby, she looked up, and the platform beneath her began to quake.

The ocean towered over Kilika Port, growing even more monstrous as it crept closer. The mother may have whispered to her children, may have told them that she loves them, but no one would ever hear over the roar of the sea as it shed its skin.

Almost like a normal wave, a ripple descended from the crest of the mountain of water and cam rushing towards the village. Water and wind and power, it whooshed over and over again, and Kilika didn't stand a chance. Huts that had stood strong against many storms began to break apart as the wind tore at them, and walkways were decimated by the force of the water that followed. Like a tsunami, the water devoured the village as it pushed closer to the island.

There was barely any time for people to scream as they saw the waves coming, and the waves smashed through their windows as they tried to run. But as hard as the water pushed, the wind wanted to do the opposite, and parts of the port that were so far untouched were sucked up from their supports and dragged into the air.

Sin emerged from the ocean, a god surveying its handiwork as a whirlwind of broken wooden planks began to circle its head. No part of the port was safe, no villager unharmed as walkways were de-constructed under their fleeing feet. Even gulls were plucked from the sky and sucked into the vortex of destruction. Some villagers clung to trees, others hid behind their huts, but Sin wanted them all.

From the sea, Sin watched Kilika die with its back in the sun. Above it, most of the village was caught in a spiral of wind in the sky. Eventually, it stopped taking new victims and sending the ocean in to destroy. Eventually, it took the tornado of death and dove back into the ocean, leaving Kilika Port decimated in its wake.

...

_W__hen Sin attacked Zanarkand that day, I woke up in Spira. I kept hoping that it would work in reverse, too._

As the boat drew nearer to the island, a sorrowful silence fell like a blanket over the world. Tidus lay on his back in the middle of the deck, long fed up with watching the other passengers sleepwalk their way around the boat. Some stood at the sides, watching as Kilika came into view. Others sat with their head in their hands, too defeated to even look.

There was a part of Tidus that felt guilty. He'd been standing at the prow earlier, watching as belongings and smashed wooden planks drifted out past the boat, and he couldn't help but wonder what would have happened had he left the harpoon alone. If he hadn't severed the rope, Sin surely would have dragged them under, but there were maybe forty people on this boat. Kilika had been home to hundreds.

Yuna kneeled beside him, and though they'd tried, Wakka and Lulu hadn't been able to convince her to go below deck. She's stood with Tidus before, and followed him when the guilt forced him to look away. She had been silent for hours, the air heavy with her thoughts. Tidus heard her speaking now as the ship made its way through the remnants of the port.

"I will defeat Sin..." she said, her voice measured and slow. "I must defeat Sin."

Tidus stared up at the gradually darkening sky, conflicted. He understood her resolve now, but he couldn't fathom how she would win a fight against such a destructive force. That wasn't the only thing playing on his mind, however. He thought of Zanarkand, and the destruction that Sin wrought that fateful night. He wondered if there were any survivors, and if they felt the same as the surviving villagers of Kilika were feeling.

_I was just fooling myself. Maybe it was that day... on the sea, under the burning sun. I started to give up hope. I was in a foreign world. I wasn't going home. This was my new reality, and I was stuck in it for good._


End file.
